East and West: The Last Governor of Hong King on Power, Freedom and the Future

by Chris Patten

Book Overview

How will Asia--its vast population, its swirling politics, its recently challenged economics--change our world? Few Western political figures can answer that question as well as Christopher... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0333747879
• ISBN13: 9780333747872
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Macmillan
• Length: 356 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.2" x 1.3" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Wonderful

I went to Hong Kong and was so impressed that I picked up this book. Admittedly it has only about two or three chapters on Hong Kong but a great deal about China and the future. In this sense I absorbed an enormous amount of well thought out material. Patten is obviously cautious about embracing everything Chinese in the context of the Communist Party there. This book would be loved by those who long for Chinese freedom and it makes some interesting predictions about what the future may hold. The quotations in it from Confucius, and various Western great thinkers like Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill and Carl Popper were highly illuminating. Patten uses Chinese ideas to undermine the face saving rhetoric from the Communist party. This is a well written, well thought out, monumental book from the last Governor of Hong Kong. I hope it helps Hong Kong to remain rich and free, the way Patten tried to make it as Governor. Truly the last great British colony to go ...

Controversial Masterpiece

A HarperCollins executive in London had judged a manuscript of East and West as `probably the best-written and most compelling book I have read by a politician since I came into publishing' --quoted in Chenoweth 2001: 283. However, after instructions from Murdoch and HarperCollins executives in New York, the book was dropped as `boring' - a judgement that was later unreservedly withdrawn by News Corporation in a legal settlement.In later reviews put forth by the Independent Review: A journal of political economy, Dr. Lingle states: "Reviewing Chris Patten's book brings me personal pleasure in several respects. For one, it pleases me to encourage readers to buy and read a book that Rupert Murdoch refused to publish. In a highly publicized affair, one of Murdoch's publishing houses pulled out of a contract for this book, shamelessly deferring to Beijing's Communist regime. Given his media ambitions for East Asia, Murdoch clearly dreaded the regime's displeasure at the publication of Patten's thoughtful words. After all, the Chinese government had denounced Patten as "a prostitute for a thousand years" and a "tango dancer" during negotiations over conditions for the return of Hong Kong to China."-- Christopher Lingle, Centre for Independent Studies, SydneyBelow is a quick synopses of why this book was banned. News Corporation's relations with China:July 1993 -Murdoch buys majority stake in Hong Kong-based Star TV inapparent attempt to access Chinese marketSeptember 1993 -Murdoch angers China by saying satellite TV is `unambiguousthreat to totalitarian regimes everywhere'October 1993 - Beijing responds by outlawing private satellite dishesApril 1994 - Murdoch drops BBC from Star TV network covering north Asiaand China, later admitting to biographer William Shawcross thiswas to please BeijingFebruary 1995 -Murdoch sponsors trip to US by Deng Rong to promote abiography of her father, the late Chinese leader Deng XiaopingAugust 1996 -Star TV launches new Chinese-language channel in partnershipwith Hong Kong businessmen with ties to the Chinese militaryFebruary 1998- HarperCollins abandons plans to publish a book by Chris Patten,whom Murdoch attacks for angering Beijing by introducing moredemocracy while serving as Hong Kong governor during finalyears of British ruleJune 1999 -Murdoch marries Wendi Deng, Chinese-born executive at StarTVSeptember 1999 - Murdoch criticizes the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leaderFebruary 2001 Star TV chairman, James Murdoch, Rupert's youngest son,describes banned Falun Gong spiritual movement as `dangerous'and an `apocalyptic cult'September 2001 -TV officials in Beijing say they have `agreed' that News Corp andAOL Time Warner can broadcast directly to parts of GuangdongprovinceOverall, during a time while US companies have been allowing the reduction of human rights and freedom of information to occur in order to take advantage of markets this book goes far in pointing out the current political structure in China and

A great fascinating book, which will go down in history

Chris Patten has seen and lived things which few other Westerners lived. As the last Governor of Her Britannic Majesty in the former British colony, Chris Patten has not just lived history, but made it. This book therefore comes as an indispensable tool for understanding the political, social and economic change of Hong Kong, China and Asia in the late twentieth century. It is extremely well-written, very long yet concise and pleasant to read, and filled with truly interesting and relevant information - for the expert and the casual reader alike. A wonderful reading for almost everyone.

insightful and enlightening, yet humerous

All of his comments and analyses point right to the heart of the issues. From the government to the personal level, the book is thought-provoking and full of "heavy" stuff, yet his humour makes it easy to read. He smashed the myth of the East, which drives to one point: after all, we are all very similar and there are always things that we can learn from each other, both between countries and between individuals.

Excellent: informative, timely.

As an ex-Hong Konger I found it to be an illuminating reiview of recent HK history. As a long-time Asian resident I found it a useful anti-dote both to the Asia boosters of recent years and the Asia doomsayers of today.