Hong Kong's embattled democracy : a societal analysis /

Unlike Yash Ghai's Hong Kong's New Constitutional Order (CH, Jun'98), which focused on the Basic Law of Hong Kong, this carefully structured and cogently argued volume by So (Hong Kong Univ. of Science and Technology) reviews Hong Kong's evolution in the last three decades from a nondemocracy to a restricted and then a contested democracy. The book contains three parts with nine chapters. Following an introduction, chapter 2 and 3 examine the historical setting in which Hong Kong's democratization took place. Chapters 4 and 5 look at the societal reactions to the change and the formation of an "unholy alliance" between the business elites and the Beijing government. Chapters 6 through 8 deal with the impact of the Tiananmen incident, London's change of policy toward Beijing, and the development of a democratic compromise under Chinese rule. In the concluding chapter the author offers several explanations and implications for Hong Kong's development and suggests that "in time Hong Kong may be neither a capitalist paradise nor a timid Special Administrative region of the People's Republic." Well-compiled references. Highly recommended for faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates. S. K. Ma; California State University, Los Angeles