Hong Kong Handover - 10 Year Anniversary

What's harder to believe? That ten years have passed so quickly, or that so little has changed in Hong Kong since the event took place? June 30, 1997 is a date etched in many minds of Vancouver residents who awaited with anxiety and skepticism as the dawn of a new, Chinese era began for Hong Kong. There were dire predictions. And who could blame anybody for being concerned given that Tiananmen Square was only 8 years removed from the handover date, hardly enough time for anyone to forget, let alone forgive. Fortune Magazine famously ran a headline in 1995 proclaiming 'The Death of Hong Kong'. Here is an excerpt from that article...

It's time to stop pretending. Supposedly, Britain's handover in less than 750 days of Hong Kong, the world's most aggressively pro-business economy, to China, the world's largest still officially communist dictatorship, is going to be a nonevent. Like the loyal retainers in the tale of the emperor who wore no clothes, Chinese and Western dignitaries continue to insist--despite growing evidence to the contrary--that, as Lord Young, chairman of British telecommunications giant Cable & Wireless, declared recently, "the best years for Hong Kong lie ahead." In fact, the naked truth about Hong Kong's future can be summed up in two words: It's over.

...What will change after midnight on June 30, 1997? Everything.

Fortunately, much of these fears have subsided as today's Chinese Hong Kong is not much different than the british colony that went by the same name.

The 10 year anniversary of the handover will not go unnoticed. The Vancity Theatre will be running a series of movies called 'Hong Kong Stories' which feature a broad range of films shot in Hong Kong, and most of which deal with issues that are specifically related to the handover. The series runs from June 29-30, July 1-2, 4-7 and it features 10 different films which are all associated with the Vancouver Int'l Film Festival. For specific show times of the films click here.

via Fortune
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Hong Kong Handover - 10 Year Anniversary

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