The Hong Kong Diaries

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On March 20, 2014 Patten gave a talk at the Hong Kong Maritime Museum co-organized by Oxford University where he expressed his views on Hong Kong Basic Law and the "one country, two systems" principle.

He expressed the belief that even if a political reform plan is rejected, Hong Kong's democracy will not reach a dead end and was confident that Hong Kong will one day have democracy.Unlike British, Chinese prefer hiding their intentions and let their counterparts guess their preferences. Following his life as a self-confessed 'wet European' from parliament to Hong Kong and beyond, Chris Patten creates a meditation on personal and political identity which, in an age of simplification, shows the complexities of both. On the disappearance of Soda, Gareth Evans, former Australia’s Foreign Minister, made a joke during a banquet dinner that Chinese ate Soda.

Among his services, appointments, and honors, he served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Bath (1979-1992), Minister for Overseas Development at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (1986-1989), Secretary of State for the Environment (1989-1992), Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1990-1992), Chairman of the Conservative Party (1990-1992), the last Governor of Hong Kong (1992-1997), appointed a Companion of Honour (CH) by Queen Elizabeth II (1998), Chairman of the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland (1998-1999), Chancellor of Newcastle University (1999-2009), 1999, appointed as one of the UK's two members to the European Commission (1999) and served as Commissioner for External Relations, appointed the European Union's High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (2000-2004), received an honorary LL. Another interesting example of cultural differences involves how British and Chinese handle contracts. There is other evidence in The Diaries illustrating how ‘bargaining below the table’ is often conducted. After he left Hong Kong, Patten was part of the EU team that negotiated China’s accession to the World Trade Organization in 2002. Unlike most previous Hong Kong governors, he was not a career diplomat from the UK Foreign Office although he was not the first former MP to become a governor of Hong Kong.He emphasized that the cornerstone of Hong Kong's success lies in the rule of law, which is guaranteed by the Sino-British Joint Declaration.