City on the Rocks: Hong Kong's Uncertain Future

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

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.