Hong Kong : appointment with China /

This is an outstanding book: timely, well researched, well written, and thoughtful. In relatively few pages, Tsang (St. Antony's College, Oxford) provides strong and scholarly background on both China and Hong Kong, making it possible for nonspecialists as well as scholars of Chinese history and politics to quickly grasp background and be prepared to follow a clear and detailed account of events, personalities, and issues leading up to the return of Hong Kong to China. In the end, the author compares this historic event to an arranged marriage--"to learn to live with reality, to make her life a misery, or to provoke a confrontation that will certainly lead to dire consequences." In developing his analysis, the author carefully and fully takes account of political developments on both sides--Britain and China: he carefully examines the strengths and weaknesses of both as they moved toward the appointed day of Hong Kong's return with neither really knowing and understanding the position and goals of the other. His discussion of the "Basic Law" and its background is a model of clear exposition of a difficult and complex document; his examination of what he calls the "Tiananmen Factor" will help readers to grasp the real complexity of the democracy issue and understand why China and Britain were unable to really agree on the modalities of Hong Kong's political institutions. General and academic readers at any level. J. Silverstein; emeritus, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick