. U! {3 a6 C x9 y. x8 J% ?& ^) h 7 `2 H _! d m s& h, [July 1, 1997: After 156 years of British rule, China resumes sovereignty over Hong Kong.8 ]/ n* ]- R+ C4 U( P
1 c6 i* o6 u$ C; b2 V2 ]( F ?6 | 2 D# r$ o% H+ [Feb. 19, 2002: Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, appointed by Beijing in 1997 to serve as Hong Kong's first post-colonial leader, is reelected.6 b; k9 G4 w; \
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$ Z n/ O! i3 z% w8 M" R0 M. \8 v% j9 ?/ d0 k; | March 10, 2005: After weeks of rumors, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa abruptly resigns, citing his declining health. " I4 W2 p- `- c" E, u 8 A: \6 j2 f0 D/ Q( x% p! |- O) P" |- t, M7 b) E- Q3 f8 A The Expat Exodus $ `# k" Y( C: i6 M8 j% H
On July 1, 1997, as Hong Kong waved goodbye to its colonial rulers on board the HMS Britannia, pessimists predicted the city's expatriate professionals would follow. + ?8 s4 d' A7 [ . X4 k4 X: B5 ?+ f' q* w # y7 L- D8 g7 a 6 T6 K0 b, y3 q$ ]" K }4 OEmigration / ^* L$ h* N) Y+ \5 c3 C( \) t2 }
Jittery about political crackdowns and economic slowdown, thousands of Hong Kong residents left town in the years before the handover. ; u3 n& E% d: q
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A 1995 Fortune magazine article famously predicted the "Death of Hong Kong" following the handover, prophesying that PLA soldiers would be a visible, ominous presence on Hong Kong's streets. 2 a3 Q3 F$ M9 T) @( D; o: Y6 T& h9 g0 Z3 [) `4 d; s
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Victoria Park. Queen's Pier. Stanley. While many symbols of British rule vanished overnight after the handover — teams of workmen removed the royal seal from post offices, police stations and institutions like the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club — Hong Kong's colonial place names endure. $ n1 r6 a* H* @+ {7 h' v9 X; x, E, | n
; b x* U; p& g. `4 B" D' L 5 k: T: i2 T9 LMilton Friedman, the late Nobel Prize-winning economist, predicted that within two years of the handover China would introduce capital controls and replace the territory's currency. Wrong. 4 N* O1 ~, u$ R+ q; U& l1 I + I- h- W3 l+ [! P& G$ E* ~- z- B0 @/ ^* e! K1 }! Q7 K6 i7 ] 7 j, x) y( s9 e
With its black robes and horsehair wigs, Hong Kong's court system is an obvious inheritance from Britain. Little has changed since the handover.: H$ c' ?: u: M( Q: q
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Hong Kong made itself fabulously wealthy by acting as the lone conduit between China and the world, funneling goods and investment in both directions. ( V4 K( @* r& J/ [ M' ~3 @ " J' }" r& a3 O/ B8 w2 n+ ?5 N) z8 E3 I" l ; e; K3 g. c' n
Contrary to dire predictions, Hong Kong hasn't yet lost its economic edge to cheaper cities on the mainland or to cleaner, more orderly Singapore.
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