Table of Contents
Acknowledgements ix
Foreword xiii
Introduction xxi
1 'A Terrible Feeling of Falling': The New Governor Arrives in Hong Kong 1
2 'Reckless and Unscrupulous Adventures': Britain Acquires a Colony 19
3 'We Had No Option': Deciding Hong Kong's Fate 45
4 'No One is Safe': Alarm Bells Across the Border 64
5 'No More Games': The Governor Assesses his Options 86
6 'A Democratic Time Bomb': Patten Draws Up a Blueprint 113
7 'You Deserve Better': An Agenda for Hong Kong 137
8 'Restraint in Difficult Circumstances': Britain and China at Odds 167
9 'The Criminal of All Time': Beijing Campaigns Against the Governor 186
10 'Pebbles in a Black Hole': Talks About Talks 212
11 'The Mad Governor Factor': Negotiating in Earnest but in Vain 234
12 'Without Fear or Favour': Defending Free Speech 253
13 'A Bracing and Bruising Experience': Charges and Counter-Charges 279
14 'Inside I'm Crowing Like Mad': LegCo Votes on Patten's Reforms 304
15 'A Matter of Decency': A Row Over the Court of Find Appeal 326
16 'A Good Moment': The First Fully Elected LegCo 349
17 'Not Remotely Acrimonious': Tackling the Home Secretary 372
18 'Thank You For the Visas, Prime Minister': John Major Brings Good News 402
19 'The Headbanger in Hong Kong': China Maintains the Pressure 430
20 'We Are Not Simply Limp Victims': The Governor's Authority Begins to Crumble 454
21 'We All Know the End of the Plot': Wrangling About the Handover 473
22 'Hong Kong Can't Be Lobotomised': Patten Rum Out of Time 489
Epilogue 511
Sources and Further Reading 537
Index 539
