Essential reading for all who study, trade or deal with China.
A superb new history of the rise of China and the fall of Hong Kong to authoritarian rule
The rise of China and the fall of Hong Kong to authoritarian rule are told with unique insight in this new history by Michael Sheridan, drawing on eyewitness reporting over three decades, interviews with key figures and documents from archives in China and the West.
The story sweeps the reader from the earliest days of trade through the Opium Wars of the 19th century to the age of globalisation and the handover of Hong Kong from Britain to China. It ends with the battle for democracy on the city's streets and the ultimate victory of the Chinese Communist Party. The voices of Hong Kong people – eloquent, smart and bold – speak out compellingly here.
How did it come to this? We learn from private papers that Margaret Thatcher anguished over the fate of Hong Kong, sought secret American briefings on how to handle China and put her trust in an adviser who was torn between duty and pride. The deal they struck did not last.
The Chinese version of this history, so often unheard, emerges from memoirs and documents, many of them new to the foreign reader. They show that China's negotiating tactics confounded its foes time after time.
Sheridan's book tells how Hong Kong was the vital gateway as the People's Republic reformed its economy and changed the world, emerging to challenge the West with a new order that raised fundamental questions about freedom, identity and progress.
It is critical reading for all who study, trade or deal with China.
