Meeting with Hong Kong financier

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PM - At supper in the common room I began talking with a man from Hong Kong, who worked in finance in Edinburgh. It was great to speak to somebody well-educated, with manners and good English. He was educated in the UK and now lives in Edinburgh but was in Hong Kong to visit his friends and family. I asked him many questions about Hong Kong as I wanted to understand why my experience was so different to what I expected. I suppose I expected Hong Kong to be to China, what Gibraltar is to Spain, very little to do with it and everything to do with Great Britain.

He told me that Hong Kong was populated by 50% Chinese people now whereas when governed by Britain it was mainly Hong Kong born Chinese. He explained Margaret Thatcher had to give Hong Kong back and had no choice because the leader of China at the time said he would step down if they didn't give it back after the lease. However, Hong Kong still has its autonomy whilst being governed by the Chinese government. When Joe told me Hong Kong was very developed, modern and clean, I now realise it may well have been when he visited because it hadn't belonged to China for very long then. I also discovered that in Hong Kong, citizens learn Mandarin, Cantonese and English at school, and the free TV channels include three channels broadcast in English and three in Cantonese. He told me there are only five buildings in Hong Kong which aren't leased, one of which is St Andrews church (I think) and it is owned by the Catholic church so it is protected against leasing. All other land has something like a 10 year maximum lease. Also the land Kowloon mosque is built on is worth a bomb!

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