July 2 (Bloomberg) -- In the run-up to Hong Kong’s return
to China in 1997, the world wondered what officials in Beijing
would do with the place. Would Hong Kong’s dynamism and openness
catalyze change in China, or would the Communist Party try to
remake the freewheeling city-state in its image?
Sixteen years on, we know it’s more the latter than the
former. Beijing has shackled Hong Kong with one bad, handpicked
leader after another. China’s commissars and their local lackeys
continue to push anti-sedition laws, patriotic education and
Mandarin on 7 million people who seek democracy and prefer
Cantonese.
