The Hong Kong Diaries

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Chinese in Hong Kong are well known for their perseverance and hardworking attitude. After the fall of the Ch’ing Dynasty, many people encountered civil war, foreign invasions, famine, and radical political campaigns such as ‘People’s Commune’ the Great Leap Forward, and ‘self-condemnation’ during the Cultural Revolution. Suffering from starvation and political turmoil, many fled from mainland China to Hong Kong, and in doing so, brought aspects of traditional Chinese culture to Hong Kong. In traditional Chinese culture, men are breadwinners while women stay at home and do household chores. Confucianism requires women to be obedient and subservient to their family and husband. British also value hardworking colleagues but never ignore their family life even though they are in extremely busy at work. They accept the work-life balance to a far greater degree than is found in Chinese culture. Cousins and Strangers: America, Britain, and Europe in a New Century. Times Books. ISBN 0-8050-7788-X. In 2016, in the wake of a student movement to remove the statue of Cecil Rhodes from a college in Oxford, as had happened in South Africa, Patten said that Oxford students who did not like Cecil Rhodes should "think about being educated elsewhere". [28] Patten, who helped transform the RUC into the PSNI, on his Irishness, Catholicism and the wrench of Brexit [ permanent dead link] What a bunch we have to deal with,” he writes in May 1995 when Chinese officials refused to meet him during their visit to the city. But the governor’s frustration with much of the business elite, anxious only to kowtow to Beijing and go on making a lot of money, was almost as great. Strained relations extended even to his more natural political allies, the Hong Kong democrats led by Martin Lee. Though on the eve of handover, Patten admits glumly: “They are good and brave people. We have let them and others down.” Patten’s most withering comments are reserved for Sinophile diplomats in London, many of whom viewed he with disdain

However, British thought differently. Patten alleged that China’s intention did not focus on the legality of contracts, but cared much on confidence in the market, lower morale and investor confidence (p.85). Taking property rights seriously in the contract, Patten defended British rights in Hong Kong all the way before 1997. He wanted China to know that Britain was still fully in power before 1997. Admittedly, any political reform before 1997 was set to influence Hong Kong for many years to come. For this reason, both China and the United Kingdom agreed to extend the “One Country, Two Systems” until 2047. Patten’s democratic reform in the LegCo would affect the future of Hong Kong society. Therefore, the implementation of democratic reform in Hong Kong would annoy China. Patten might not know or realize that Chinese are taught to be loyal and obedient to their leaders. Patten seems a consummately relaxed 78. Does he ever get mad, watching his life’s work, at home and abroad, unravel? According to information from the US Embassy in Brussels (published by WikiLeaks in November 2010): Patten said in April 2004 that Russian President Vladimir Putin has done a good job for Russia mainly due to high world energy prices, but he had serious doubts about the man's character. Cautioning that "I'm not saying that genes are determinant," Patten then reviewed the Putin family history – grandfather part of Lenin's special protection team; father a communist party apparatchik, and Putin himself decided at a young age to pursue a career in the KGB. "He seems a completely reasonable man when discussing the Middle East or energy policy, but when the conversation shifts to Chechnya or Islamic extremism, Putin's eyes turn to those of a killer." Patten's actions were strongly criticised by the pro-Beijing political parties of Hong Kong. Patten was also denounced by some Chinese media and politicians as the "whore of the East" and a "serpent", and was most famously called a "sinner who would be condemned for a thousand generations" (Chinese: 千古罪人) by Lu Ping, the head of China's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office. [21] The legislative council which was elected under Patten's governorship was dissolved upon the handover of Hong Kong to the PRC and replaced by a Provisional Legislative Council which did not have any democratic functions until elections were held under the previous rules in 1998.Patten was not a silver-spoon Tory. He was born into an Irish Catholic family on his paternal side. His father was a drummer in a jazz band who became a music publisher, before running a precarious business making jingles for TV. “We never talked about politics or religion at home,” Patten says. “It was an extremely apolitical household; my parents would have voted Conservative. They bought the Daily Express in the days when it was a decent newspaper.” minutely observe[s] how China broke its promises - first insidiously and gradually and then openly and suddenly - and the impact on the lives of Hong Kongers ... Patten's diaries of his frustrating yet rewarding stint as governor cover the years from 1992 to the 1997 handover ... [he] is a genial and self-deprecating companion through the years leading up to the handover ... In the course of his diaries, Patten argues convincingly that for Britain or any other country to abandon liberal principles and yield to the Chinese Communist party's demands at every opportunity brings neither political nor commercial benefits. The trade and investment statistics he cites from the final decades of British rule do indeed suggest there is little correlation between grovelling and real rewards for business. Victor Mallet, Financial Times Gerretsen, Isabelle (1 March 2012). "Travel grant offered to Eton students only". Cherwell. Oxford University . Retrieved 28 March 2023.

Patten has become a kind of living reminder of that shift on the right. He was the architect of Major’s 1992 election victory, built on a belief that, post-Thatcher, the party must be “tolerant, efficient and generous-spirited”. Those are three values for the scrapbook. Had he not lost his own seat in Bath in that election, partly because he was associated with the poll tax, he would have become, at 48, chancellor of the exchequer. His subsequent career has been a tour of duty of threatened institutions and imperial relics, the more grown-up version of Portillo on a train. He was, of course, Britain’s last governor of Hong Kong, lampooned in Private Eye as the grand poobah, before the handover to China in 1997. He followed that up with the job of which he is most proud – establishing a new, non-sectarian police force in Northern Ireland, as part of the Good Friday agreement. He was then an EU commissioner, partly responsible for the union’s foreign policy. Then chairman of the BBC Trust, fighting a rearguard action against cuts. For the last 19 years he has been chancellor of Oxford University. In each of those roles, he has been pitted not against the left, but mostly against the Daily Mail and the ideologues and nut jobs in his own party. In Patten's diaries we see everyone from Mother Teresa to Margaret Thatcher passing through the governor's living room ... Eschewing the feathered hat, the uniform and all the other flummery that goes with governing an outpost of the British empire, he plunges into a series of walkabouts, holds public meetings, looks for ways of redistributing some wealth and makes no secret of his sympathy for the democrats. Chris Mullin, Spectator Christopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes, KG , CH , PC ( Chinese: 彭定康; [2] born 12 May 1944) is a British politician who was the 28th and last Governor of Hong Kong from 1992 to 1997 and Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1990 to 1992. He was made a life peer in 2005 and has been Chancellor of the University of Oxford since 2003. He is one of the two living former governors of Hong Kong. The other is David Wilson, Baron Wilson of Tillyorn. Patten submitted his letter of resignation as BBC Trust Chairman to the Secretary of State on 6 May 2014; citing health reasons following his heart bypass surgery on 28 April. [32] BBC Trust Vice Chairman Diane Coyle took over as Acting Chairman until the appointment of a new chairman. He returned to sit with the Conservative party in the House of Lords in September of that year. Chris Patten urges UK to investigate origins of coronavirus in China". The Guardian. 30 April 2020.

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In May 2016, Patten said that the BBC has "lost some of its ambition" in its coverage of science, philosophy and history, and should "stretch" audiences more. Patten bemoaned the fact that much of the corporation's high-brow programming had been moved to BBC Four, the digital channel, and given low budgets that meant shows were "sometimes made with glue and string". In a speech on the future of the BBC, which he said was "one of this country's greatest institutions", Patten called on ministers to respect the "besieged" broadcaster's independence, and set in place measures to stop it becoming "the plaything of the government of the day". [33] On China [ edit ] Patten tried, he says, to give an answer that recognised that he was not being required to be as brave as they might be, in making that choice. At which point, the young man’s “lovely girlfriend just burst into tears”. In the last three months, he says, partly as a result of Britain’s generous visa scheme, “there have been 100,000-plus people from Hong Kong, teachers, medics, lawyers, leaving to come here and lots of other places as well”. If he’s honest he can’t see any other future for the territory “than that it will have its freedoms and its attributes as an open society stripped away comprehensively”. Lord Patten of Barnes, Parliamentary career". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022.

When C.H. Tung talked to me privately about having secret negotiations with China on all this, I pointed out that there isn’t much to be said for trying to agree something with Lu Ping which can’t then be delivered by Legco. The ethnocentric view of culture argues that we evaluate other cultures solely by the values and standards of our own culture. The cultural clashes between Chris Patten and Chinese delegates are revealed in terms of their family values, communication skills, negotiation strategies, and contractual arrangements. Broadly speaking, they reflect cultural differences between the East and West. From this perspective, Patten’s book makes much sense. Therefore, to resolve the ongoing chaotic situation in Hong Kong, understanding differences in cultural values between China and the UK is of utmost importance.Patten Lecture: China and Europe in a less certain world". Blavatnik School of Government . Retrieved 28 March 2023.

Patten was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary for the Northern Ireland Office in June 1983. He was promoted to be a Minister of State in the Department of Education and Science in September 1985, and was named Minister for Overseas Development at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in September 1986. Sumption, Jonathan (4 October 2008). "The pragmatic approach". The Spectator. 308 (9397): 38. Archived from the original on 12 January 2009 . Retrieved 23 December 2008. Conversely, Chinese delegates are much more reserved. Plans and intentions are not open to the public and a wide range of facts and ideas are often brought to negotiations. Chinese negotiators often prefer settling disagreements ‘under the table’ with formal negotiations serving as more or less a ‘rubber stamp’ for decisions reached behind the scenes. Unlike British, Chinese prefer hiding their intentions and let their counterparts guess their preferences. For example, Lu Ping, Head of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, PRC (hereafter Lu) did not directly denounce Patten’s tough negotiation style. Instead, Lu emphasized how he had maintained strong friendships with Patten’s four predecessors. He implicitly used the skills of ‘China-speak for itself’, warning Patten to “better toe the line just like the [four predecessors]” (p.71). In other words, Lu wanted Patten to soften Patten’s tough negotiation style and cooperated with them. A major event covered by a principled professional. Those researching the period would find telling notes about key politicians engaged or witnessing the last few years of Britain governorship over HK. Though hard it is to go through what is literally a diary, last 2 chapters summarise the core belief system.krystalyang38 (22 September 2020). "Who is Lord Chris Patten?". The Millennial Source Ltd . Retrieved 28 March 2023. a b Marlin, John Tepper (28 April 2013). "REUNION: Europe in Madrid – Lord Patten". The Oxbridge Pursuivant. blogspot . Retrieved 28 March 2023. Patten and his time in Hong Kong was the subject of the 5-part documentary series The Last Governor, which was filmed throughout his time in Hong Kong, including his arrival, key moments of his government such as the 1995 elections and his final day in office, ending as he departs Government House for the last time. In June 2015, Chris Patten was interviewed by Hong Kong newspaper Apple Daily. He expressed the belief that even if a political reform plan is rejected, Hong Kong's democracy will not reach a dead end and was confident that Hong Kong will one day have democracy. [45] In another incident, Lu wanted to disgrace Patten but did so in a subtle manner. Lu refused to greet Patten at the airport. However, as practiced in Chinese culture, Lu did not take this insult to an extreme, and apologized to Patten for not being at the airport. Hence, some ‘face’ was preserved for both Patten and Lu.