Volume 45, Number 14 · September 24, 1998
Don't Say Goodbye
By Ian Buruma
East and West: China, Power, and the Future of Asia
by Christopher Patten
Times Books, 304 pp., $25.00
Christopher Patten, identified by his official Chinese critics variously as 'the whore' and 'the serpent,' was an oddity in the long line of British governors of Hong Kong. Not only was he the last governor, but before his appointment he had been an active politician (who lost his Conservative parliamentary seat) instead of a diplomat or colonial civil servant. More than his predecessors he cared (or had to care) about being popular among his charges. Patten liked to go on 'walkabouts' in poor Hong Kong neighborhoods, and press the flesh of ordinary folks. He was the first governor who refused to deck himself out in white hats and ostrich feathers. He invited TV crews onto his lawn, cozied up to journalists, and made public speeches. In short, he behaved more like a politician on the stump than a colonial governor, and since he wanted his governance to be based as much as possible on popular consent, in a sense that is what he was: a pol on an extended campaign without elections.
Review, 4510 words
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