Tung Chee-hwa and the Last Days of Colonial Hong Kong, December 1996–June 1997

Abstract

Hong Kong attracted enormous attention worldwide when the British colony, a model of capitalism and a laissez-faire economy, was returned to China, a Socialist regime. It was estimated that about eight thousand foreign reporters and journalists were in Hong Kong at the time of the handover on July 1, 1997. For months before this historic event, the media overseas reported extensively on Hong Kong: every move of the newly elected chief executive, his cabinet of advisers, the Provisional Legislature, and the squabbles among the different parties in the territory. Even before Hong Kong reverted to Chinese sovereignty, the Western press had proclaimed its death.¹ A New York Times headline asserted, “Farewell to Hong Kong’s Freedom,” and the related article stated that the situation in the territory after the handover would become very similar to that of China.