THE DEATH OF HONG KONG
(FORTUNE Magazine)
By LOUIS KRAAR REPORTER ASSOCIATE JOE MCGOWAN
June 26, 1995
(FORTUNE Magazine) – 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.