China's New Colony.
On 1 July 1997, China realised her long-standing ambition of regaining sovereignty over Hong Kong and the world waited to see how the last great Communist power would cope with a society whose very existence depended on its vibrantly capitalist nature.
Vines examines the institutions, infrastructure, people and events that have made Hong Kong into one of the world's major centres of capitalism. He investigates the tortuous diplomatic process by which Britain surrendered control of her last significant colony. And with Hong Kong now in China's hands, Vines looks at the future of Hong Kong and the survival of its vibrant free economy. Indeed, would Hong Kong itself infect its new host body with the virus of capitalism and freedom, accelerating the economic changes already underway in China?