It is twenty-five years since the handover of Hong Kong from British to Chinese rule in 1997, when Beijing promised that Hong Kongers’ freedoms would be protected for 50 years. Katie Stallard speaks to Lord Patten, the last British governor of the territory from 1992-1997, about his new book, The Hong Kong Diaries.

They discuss his dealings with the Chinese Communist Party, the failure to foresee Beijing’s crackdown on civil liberties in Hong Kong and his belief that Hong Kong might change China more than China would change Hong Kong. Also, the folly of the so-called “Golden Era” of UK-China relations under David Cameron, and what he really thinks of Boris Johnson.

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Further reading:

The betrayal of Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s authoritarian future is already here.

China doesn’t just want to be part of the global order – it wants to shape it.

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