Yahoo! News – China Rules No Direct Elections in HK in 07 and 08
What the hell were the British thinking handing the premier bastion of unfettered capitalism in the world over to the last major Marxist power anyway? It’s not like there were no other options. 1 – They could have encouraged Hong Kong to declare independence and recognized it before their lease expired. 2 – They could have handed Hong Kong back to the other Chinese government (and what would that have done for economic growth in Asia!). 3 – They could have given the Chinese an ultimatum of renewing the lease or taking the island by force. Any of the above would have been preferable to handing over a free people to despotism. It was an act more worthy of the French than the British.