#Interview
#ChrisPatten on How #CCP Changed #HongKong: "They’ve broken their word, as I’m afraid they do regularly"

The last UK governor of Hong Kong, #lChris Patten, blames the #ChineseCommunistParty for the city's malaise.

Patten, 78, who holds the title Baron Patten of Barnes and serves as chancellor of the #UniversityofOxford, spoke the Amelia Loi of RFA Cantonese about the changes in Hong Kong as the July 1 25th anniversary of the #handover approaches.

In the interview, Patten was asked to assess the changes in Hong Kong in the 25 years since the handove. Patten said, "Hong Kong was an exceptionally successful community ––the eighth largest trading community in the world and we never had the sort of demonstrations which have affected Hong Kong in the last few years. I had very much hoped it would continue as long as possible and the Chinese had promised that it would continue for 50 years. They’ve broken their word, as I’m afraid they do regularly. They break their word. They break international treaties whenever it suits them. And I think that’s happening again this time."

Patten also said, "the fact that the independence movement has grown in Hong Kong is an indication of how badly China has behaved and how little people actually trust China today. It’s an extraordinary thing that so few people are actually proud of Hong Kong being part of China now. There’s a great sense of Hong Kong citizenship, and there’s a great sense that people are Hong Kongers but only a small number think of themselves as Chinese."

Read the full interview:
https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/hongkong-patten-06262022085742.html

Source: RFA #Jun26
Illustration: #RebelPepper