My Take | The tragedy of Chris Patten, our last British governor
- His democratic reform before 1997 – well-intentioned if impulsive and poorly thought-out – was ultimately superseded by local reforms that were far more democratic and sanctioned by Beijing
I must confess I have always had a soft spot for Lord Patten, the last governor of Hong Kong. This is despite my belief that he ultimately did more harm than good. I can still remember the youthful and quick-witted Patten meeting the local public on stage at City Hall in Central during his first year in office, a complete break from the hitherto aloof British mandarins sent from London to administer the Far-Eastern colony. That was billed back then as an unprecedented occasion in which the governor openly took questions from the public about what his policies would be and how he saw Sino-British relations as the 1997 handover date approached.
It is so sad today to see an ageing Patten, once so knowledgeable, funny, intelligent and a master of policy details, taking every opportunity to politicise anything, on every occasion about Hong Kong, including this Lunar New Year, at the service of a highly questionable group in Britain.
Whenever possible, HKW and its chief, Benedict Rogers, now march out Patten for another heavy dose of China denunciation. Don’t get me wrong; I would love for Patten to comment on Hong Kong, critically or not, but he might enjoy far greater credibility if he would speak as himself rather than being associated with such an overtly partisan group as HKW and the people who run it.
Kevin Rudd, the former Australian prime minister and new ambassador to the United States, made himself far more trustworthy as an independent “old China hand” and commentator during his years in the political wilderness.