The last governor : Chris Patten & the handover of Hong Kong

602 Pages·1998·118.667 MB·English

by  Patten, Chris, Dimbleby, Jonathan, Patten, Chris

THEL
GOVE
JONATHA.
DIMBLEB' r
'Remarkable ... contains allegations against British Ministers and
officials as astonishing as anything in recent imperial history'
SimonJenkins, THE TIMES
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2011
http://www.archive.org/details/lastgovernorchriOOdimb
DistinguishedbroadcasterandwriterJonathan Dimbleby is the ^'
presenter of LWT's flagship pohtical programme Jonathan
DimblebyandBBC Radio 4sAny Questions andAnyAnswers. He
was the ITV anchormanforthe 1997 general election. His books
include two highly acclaimed biographies, Richard Dimbleby
(1975), and The Prince ofWales (1994).
An award-winning reporter, he has made current affairs and
documentary films in more than sixty countries around the
world. They include Charles: The Private Man, The Public Role
(1994), which provoked international headlines and a significant
reappraisal ofthe Prince ofWales in the British media, and The
Last Governor (1997), a five-part television series on Chris Patten
and the handover ofHongKong, an independent production for
the BBC.
Jonathan Dimbleby is married to the novelist and broadcaster
Bel Mooney They live in Somerset.
By the same author
Richard Dimbleby: A Biography
The Palestinians
The Prince ofWales: A Biography
I
The
Last
Governor
Chris Patten
&
Handover
the
Hong Kong
of
JONATHAN DIMBLEBY
H
\AARNER BCXXS
A WarnerBook
First published in Great Britain in 1997
by Little, Brown and Company
This edition pubhshed in 1998
by Warner Books
Reprinted 1998 (twice)
Copyright © 1997 byJonathan Dimbleby
The moral right ofthe author has been asserted
Lines from 'The Ship' by W.H. Auden reproduced
by kind permission ofFaber and Faber
All rights reserved.
No part ofthis pubUcation may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any
form orby any means, without the prior
permission in writingofthe publisher, nor be
otherwise circulated in any form ofbinding or
cover other than that in which it is published and
without a similar condition including this
condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is
available from the British Library
ISBN o7515 22724
M
Typeset in Bembo by Rules
Printed andbound in GreatBritain by
Clays Ltd, St Ivespic
WarnerBooks
ADivision of
Little, Brown and Company (UK)
Brettenham House
Lancaster Place
LondonWC2E 7EN
For Bel

Contents
Acknowledgements ix
Foreword xiii
Introduction xxi
1 'A Terrible Feeling ofFalling'
The New GovernorArrives in Hong Kong i
2 'Reckless and Unscrupulous Adventures'
Britain Acquires a Colony 19
3 *We Had No Option'
Deciding Hong Kong's Fate 45
4 'No One is Safe'
Alarm Bells Across the Border 64
'No More Games'
5
The GovernorAssesses his Options 86
6 'A Democratic Time Bomb'
Patten Draws Up a Blueprint 113
7 'You Deserve Better'
An AgendaforHong Kong 137
8 'Restraint in Difficult Circumstances'
Britain and China at Odds 167
9 'The Criminal ofAll Time'
Beijing Campaigns Against the Governor 186
10 'Pebbles in a Black Hole'
Talks About Talks 212
Contents
11 *The Mad Governor Factor'
Negotiating in Earnest hut in Vain 234
12 'Without Fear or Favour'
Defending Free Speech 253
13 *A Bracing and Bruising Experience'
Charges and Counter-Charges 279
14 'Inside I'm Crow^ing Like Mad'
LegCo Votes on Patten's Reforms 304
15 'A Matter ofDecency'
A Row Over the Court ofFinalAppeal 326
16 'A Good Moment'
The First Fully Elected LegCo 349
17 'Not Remotely Acrimonious'
Tackling the Home Secretary 372
18 'Thank You For the Visas, Prime Minister'
John Major Brings Good News 402
19 'The Headbanger in Hong Kong'
China Maintains the Pressure 430
20 'We Are Not Simply Limp Victims'
The Governor's Authority Begins to Crumble 454
21 'We All Know the End ofthe Plot'
WranglingAbout the Handover 473
22 'Hong Kong Can't Be Lobotomised' i
Patten Runs Out ofTime 489
Epilogue 511
I
Sources and Further Reading 537
Index 539