City on the Rocks : Hong Kong's Uncertain Future

Rafferty, Kevin

ISBN 10: 0670802050 / ISBN 13: 9780670802050

Published by Viking, USA, 1990

About this Item

Hardcover. 518 pages. *** PUBLISHING DETAILS: Viking, USA, 1990. First Edition. This is the first USA edition. *** CONDITION: The book itself is in very good condition and comes in very good dust jacket. More specifically: Boards have no wear, rubbing or soiling. Dust jacket has light creasing and superficial rubbing. Edges of dust jacket have light bumping. Dust jacket is unclipped. Remainder mark on page edges. Pages are lightly tanned. *** ABOUT THIS BOOK: An investigative portrait of Hong Kong, its history, society, and role as a business centre as well as an enquiry into its future. *** Quantity Available: 1. Category: Travel & Places; ISBN: 0670802050. ISBN/EAN: 9780670802050. Inventory No: 17020317.

Seller Inventory # 17020317

Bibliographic Details

• Title: City on the Rocks : Hong Kong's Uncertain Future
• Publisher: Viking, USA
• Publication Date: 1990
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0670802050
• ISBN 13: 9780670802050
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Edition.
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Travel & Places

About this title

Synopsis

Explores the history and culture of Hong Kong, profiles the powers behind its business and political worlds, and analyzes the impact that recent events in China will have on its future

Reviews

When Hong Kong reverts to Chinese rule in 1997, Beijing will allow the freewheeling capitalist mecca to maintain its autonomous lifestyle for at least 50 years--at least as set forth in the treaty with Britain. But many of the Crown colony's business elite are already seeking exit visas, and Deng's bloody putdown of popular protest in Tiananmen Square last May has convinced ordinary Hong Kong residents that they are very much in the firing line, according to the author. In a sparkling tour of the bustling metropolis, Financial Times correspondent Rafferty considers Hong Kong's uncertain future in light of its unpreparedness to cast off colonial rule, its vulnerable economy and rivalry with Tokyo. He caps this astute blend of travelogue, history, economic and political analysis by proposing strategies whereby Britain could put pre-1997 pressure on China to become a tolerant overlord. Photos.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This substantial volume reveals Hong Kong mainly from current financial and political perspectives. Rafferty, who has been an Asia-Pacific correspondent for The Financial Times and Insitutional Investor , tells an occasionally repetitious story of the colony's people and neighborhoods, its banks and shops and money-making hustle. The shadow of China looms in later chapters as Rafferty discusses the 1984 Joint Declaration wherein Britain yields Hong Kong to China in 1997 (a well-balanced assessment) as well as the aftermath of the Tiananmen Massacre. This complements Jan Morris's Hong Kong ( LJ 2/1/89): where Morris's prose is more lucid, Rafferty's is more statistical; where Morris is more historical, Rafferty is more present- and future-oriented. Enhanced with a good bibliography, this is especially recommended for business-minded readers.
-Elizabeth A. Teo, Moraine Valley Community Coll. Lib., Palos Hills, Ill.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.