The Hong Kong Diaries

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Lord Patten of Barnes, Parliamentary career". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Raised in west London, Patten studied history at Balliol College, Oxford. Shortly after graduating in 1965, he began working for the Conservative Party. Patten was elected Member of Parliament for Bath in 1979. He was appointed Secretary of State for the Environment by Margaret Thatcher in 1989 as part of her third ministry, becoming responsible for implementation of the unpopular poll tax. On John Major's succession as Prime Minister in 1990, Patten became Chairman of the Conservative Party and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. As party chairman, he successfully orchestrated a surprise Conservative electoral victory in 1992, but lost his own seat. Sale, Jonathan. "Passed/Failed: An Education in the Life of Lord Patten, last governor of Hong Kong and University Chancellor". The Independent . Retrieved 19 July 2018. I only went to the Oxford Union once. What turned me on to politics was getting a travelling scholarship to the USA. In New York, I got involved in the mayoral campaign of John Lindsay, a liberal Republican who wound up a Democrat, and I got the bug Beyond doubt, Chris Patten as the last governor of Hong Kong has leave some indelible marks in the city, which has always been a key player in global economy and, lately, politics. It is within readers' expectation to get some insights from his book on the past, present and future of Hong Kong. However, this book will probably disappoint everyone who wish to learn more about the city through his writing. Lu] complained that Beijing had not been properly consulted, that he [Lu] and his colleagues were not being given any face, that we [Chinese] were bouncing them with these proposals, that they [British] were out of step with the Basic Law.

Patten's actions were strongly criticised by the pro-Beijing political parties of Hong Kong. Patten was also denounced by some Chinese media and politicians as the "whore of the East" and a "serpent", and was most famously called a "sinner who would be condemned for a thousand generations" (Chinese: 千古罪人) by Lu Ping, the head of China's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office. [21] The legislative council which was elected under Patten's governorship was dissolved upon the handover of Hong Kong to the PRC and replaced by a Provisional Legislative Council which did not have any democratic functions until elections were held under the previous rules in 1998.

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Vetta, Sylvia (29 July 2019). "Brilliant interview with Chris Patten – I enjoyed my interview with him ". Sylvia Vetta .co.uk . Retrieved 28 March 2023. Patten grew up in an Irish Catholic family in west London, the son of an unsuccessful music publisher whose forebears had come to England from County Roscommon, Ireland. [4] Patten's father, Frank, dropped out [5] of university to become a jazz-drummer, later, a popular-music publisher. Frank and his mother Joan sent him to a Catholic primary school, Our Lady of the Visitation, in Greenford, and later awarded a scholarship [5] [6] to the independent St Benedict's School in Ealing, west London, where he won an exhibition [1] [7] to read Modern History at Balliol College, Oxford. minutely observe[s] how China broke its promises - first insidiously and gradually and then openly and suddenly - and the impact on the lives of Hong Kongers ... Patten's diaries of his frustrating yet rewarding stint as governor cover the years from 1992 to the 1997 handover ... [he] is a genial and self-deprecating companion through the years leading up to the handover ... In the course of his diaries, Patten argues convincingly that for Britain or any other country to abandon liberal principles and yield to the Chinese Communist party's demands at every opportunity brings neither political nor commercial benefits. The trade and investment statistics he cites from the final decades of British rule do indeed suggest there is little correlation between grovelling and real rewards for business. Victor Mallet, Financial Times I’ve got increasingly cross about references to Chinese ‘face’ (by the older group in particular) and feel that we need to refer ourselves to British ‘face’ from time to time.” (p.17)

In March 2023, Patten was one of 47 British lawmakers to sign an open letter urging the Hong Kong authorities to release Claudia Mo on humanitarian grounds to visit her critically ill husband in hospital. [52] Personal life [ edit ]China's 'nervous' Xi risks new Cold War, last Hong Kong governor says". Reuters. 30 May 2020. The West, he said, should stop being naive about Xi, who has served as General Secretary of the Communist Party since 2012. In 2014 Pope Francis appointed Patten to head a body to advise the Vatican on media strategy and on how to handle the press, which he remained on until 2016. [ citation needed] In the media [ edit ]

Perhaps Hongkongers are only wistful about the disappearing way of living and declining influence, rather than the colonial rule and its employees. Evidently, Patten is not best remembered for his contribution to democracy. In my opinion, he has a less noticeable legacy: many people have not bought into the CCP side of things because of his charisma. That alone means more than any veritable achievement to the people. If any puppet wishes to term it ‘sowing discord’, so be it. They may have a hard time pointing out where the umbilical cord is. University of Ulster News Release – UU Unveils Summer Honorary Graduates". News.ulster.ac.uk. 28 February 2005. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016 . Retrieved 30 June 2010. On 29 September 2005, he published his memoirs, Not Quite the Diplomat: Home Truths About World Affairs. In October 2009, Patten was Chief Guest at The Doon School, a boarding school in Dehradun, India, which is a member of the United Kingdom's Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. [54] In the initial years after his tenure as Governor of Hong Kong ended Patten, by his own admission, chose not to directly comment on Hong Kong's affairs but in recent years has increasingly shared his views on Hong Kong in public talks and press interviews since the handover. [37]Like South Koreans, Chinese regard consuming dog meat as normal. However, in British Hong Kong, the Dogs and Cats Ordinance of 1950 prohibits the slaughter of dogs for use as food. The loss of Soda signifies Sino-British cultural differences in dog domestication. On the disappearance of Soda, Gareth Evans, former Australia’s Foreign Minister, made a joke during a banquet dinner that Chinese ate Soda. One newspapers headline reports, ‘Chinese eat governor’s dog’. Evans later was required to clarify his remarks upon China’s inquiry! (p.80) A few minutes after the result of Monday’s confidence vote in the prime minister was announced, I spoke to Chris Patten on the phone. The former Conservative party chairman and current rebellious Tory peer was dismayed to see the “Johnson cult still hanging on”. He described the government as “shameful and seedy”. “The most depressing thing is I’ve been watching interviews with ministers this evening,” he said, “and the titles alone are so depressing. Jacob Rees-Mogg, minister for Brexit opportunities. If ever there as a contradiction in terms it is that. And nobody should ever see the words ‘Nadine Dorries’ and ‘culture secretary’ in the same sentence.” One way The Diaries reveals the impact of culture is its documentation of the differences in negotiating styles. Patten documents how British negotiators often disclose large amounts of information during negotiations, and also often let the rivals know their intentions. Patten married Lavender Thornton, a barrister, on 11 September 1971. [53] They have three daughters, including the actress Alice Patten.