Hong Kong

So so sad.
I grew up in HK.
This was always going to happen.

It is very worrying indeed.

I too lived in HK and loved the place
There was often poor feelings between HK and China, when we were there for some months we were under strict evening curfews, with China cutting off the water supply to punish HK we used to get 4 hours of water every fourth day and had to be in by I think it was 5 or 6 at night There were parcel bombs going off in streets it was certainly a difficult few months I can’t remember how long it lasted
Such a shame I hope it dissipates

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_1967_leftist_riots

It was always difficult for the Hongkong people.
They didn’t like being ruled by Britain, but feared rule by Communist China even more.

When I worked there I got two very different sides of the story. Some thought handing back control by the British the best thing that had happened in their lifetime, whilst others admired Chris Patten very much and were devastated by the handover. One person asked me, 'What do you think was the proudest day of my life?' I said, wedding day, birth of your first child... No she said. The day HK was handed back to China. A colleague said, she'd been very sad and was fearful of the new rule.

Some were the children of mixed Chinese/English marriages, so their bonds with both nations were strong. The agreement was for guaranteeing a 50-year extension of its capitalist economic system, trading and government. It seems the Chinese are now foreshortening that after 22 years.

Under the 'one country, two systems' rule, Hong Kong has enjoyed freedoms which are not seen on the mainland. The protesters are angry at the perceived interference from Beijing, and yesterday an official warned the UK to step back and not interfere. I am concerned about former colleagues and worry about contacting them for fear of putting them in a difficult situation.

Bit like Uk at the present t a country divided
I hope it improves I have very fond memories of my life there even through the difficult bits

Bluebelle,
I remember it well. We stopped classes at school when it finally rained.
My dad was responsible for organising the water supplies.
I remember going out to the ships with him to discuss the unloading of the water they were bringing in.
Unlike Ivanka, i wasn’t part of the discussion- just sat and drank pop! I’m a bit obsessed with saving water now.
The riots were pretty scary too. There was a bit of trouble at the PWD depot and dad got barricaded in.
Many HK Chinese left if they could. Lots went to Canada.

We got caught out after curfew (about five minutes over) and had to be taken back in a jeep with armed guards Pamela I had a couple of month old baby it was really scary

Bluebelle, I was only a child so didn’t really realise the horror of it all but did see the Cantonese newspapers that wereto stuck on shop windows with the appalling photos of mutilated bodies that had come down the river from China.

My mum had a baby not long before the water restrictions .We have photos of her (baby) being bathed in a bucket.

The one advantage HK has over China is tgst we actually receive filmed footage of what is actually happening there and all the various news outlets are able to film and report back to the rest of the world. However I would never underestimate the Chinese state. Basically they know because of their economic power, the West will tut tut and that will be it. I think the protesters are very brave

They should have stayed with the UK. Better the devil you know !
I remember landing at Kai Tak in 1997, a hairy experience but worse for those on the ground. It was a stopover before Oz.

There was no choice to do that for HK. We allowed things to develop there without proper democracy - if we’d introduced the latter, it might have been possible.

They should have stayed with the UK. Better the devil you know
Most of the territory was leased to Britain for 99 years. There was no choice about handing it back. The lease was up, full stop.

The only thing that was negotiable was the status of Hongkong citizens after the hardback and the ‘one country, two systems’ was supposed to last for 50 years.

As Jane said, we only owned up to Boundary Street on Kowloon side.
No water.

I would be terrified of the proposed new law to allow Hong Kong citizens to be tried in China.

Wouldn't anybody?

Carrie Lam has been seen by the Honk Kong people to be a puppet of China at the expense of the people and who could argue this may well be the case.

If I were the Chines Government and Carrie Lam I would step back from this legislation which is not a high priority, unless there is as supposed some menace behind the need for it.!

Pamela I had my first child about a month before the trouble started so me and your mum were having the same experience It was a very very uncomfortable time I remember the taxis wouldn’t pick British people up and some of the shops didn’t want to sell to you

My mum used to tease my dad for years afterwards.
The advice was to send your valuables home.
Dad packed up one or two things to send back to his mum and dad.
Kept us there though ??

Thank goodness we aren’t there now.
The Chinese’s Government are unlikely to step back from anything that suits them.
Quite honestly they’ve waited longer than I thought before starting to make their moves.
Those young activists are risking so much.

I have spoken with Chinese people who didn't know about Tiananmen Square at the time. It was not widely broadcast in mainland China. Crushing these demonstrations of dissent will not be as easy as Tiananmen Square with the world watching this time. But you're right Pamelaj1 they are risking so much and I am fearful for the demonstrators.

In mainline China the TV screens are going blank when foreign broadcasters showed the protesters.
The population are being given an uplifting account of the “celebrations” marking the anniversary of the handover.
I think the real drama is beginning to seep through.

Britain no longer any responsibility for Hong Kong. That responsibility is now in the hands of the Hong Kong legislating Authority and the Chinese Government.

This crisis is a dispute between those who wish to protest against new legislation and the above authorities.

The UK government should stay out of that dispute and stop treating those Chinese authorities in terms similar to them being subjects of Imperialist Britain at its height.

This shambles of a government has brought enough problems to these shores and opening up further relationship difficulties with China and its province will not assist in gaining any trade agreements in an area where a third of the world's population lives.

Well Grandad1943 I doubt that it would make any difference anyway.

We may not be responsible for Hong Kong any more, and I think we probably did the best we could at the time
of the handover. Like others I'm amazed that it's lasted as long as it has before a complete take over by Beijing, and of course we can do nothing about it,but I don't think it hurts to let the people of this former colony know that we do care, and are not happy with situation they now find themselves in. My DH was in the RN in his youth, and remembers H.K with great affection.

As a Special Administrative Region Hong Kong (and Macau) is autonomous and Basic Law should apply there until 2047 (Macau 2049). Some responsibilities do rest with the Central Government.

I am not sure what this has to do with your view that our government is a shambles, Grandad.
Would you put a trade agreement before people's rights and freedoms? If so and trading with China is of paramount importance, why is trading with America so despised?