Britain's ‘betrayal’ of Hong Kong: A second look

Claims of British bungling and betrayal were repeatedly raised during the prolonged run‐up to the 1997 Hong Kong handover. This paper seeks to evaluate such claims. It examines five controversial episodes of reputed British mishandling of the Hong Kong transition: (1) Governor Murray MacLehose's reputed double faux pas of March 1979, when the governor first putatively erred by prematurely (and unnecessarily) raising the ‘1997 question’ in a routine meeting with Deng Xiaoping and then compounded his error by misrepresenting Deng's less‐than‐reassuring response; (2) Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's 1982 miscalculation in requesting a 50‐year extension of the New Territories lease when it was already abundantly clear that Chinese leaders regarded the original lease as ‘unequal'—and therefore non‐binding; (3) Britain's 1987 decision to unilaterally postpone Hong Kong's first direct legislative elections, a decision defended on the disingenuous grounds that government surveys had revealed a majority of the Hong Kong public to be opposed to rapid democratization; (4) Britain's ostensible failure, in the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen debacle, to secure the inclusion of adequate democratic safeguards in the final draft of the Hong Kong Basic Law, completed early in 1990; and (5) Governor Chris Patten's ill‐starred democratic reform initiatives of 1992–95, which sharply reversed Britain's previous ‘convergence’ policy and ultimately led to the derailing of Hong Kong's vaunted ‘through train’. Examining available evidence on these five episodes (and one or two other, related cases), this paper argues that despite occasional, palpable policy miscalculations and a notable lack of official candor, Britain did not do serious harm to the vital interests of Hong Kong. On the contrary, the paper argues, given the substantial advantage in resources and leverage enjoyed by the Chinese side throughout the transition period, a more favorable outcome could hardly have been achieved. The one residual allegation of British betrayal that cannot readily be countered, however, is the charge that racism within Britain's ruling Conservative Party—manifested in Parliamentary legislation severely restricting the flow of immigrants from British colonial territories—played a significant role in the British Government's choice of tactics in dealing with the ‘1997 question’.     

E Pluribus Unum: fostering a new era of citizenship by teaching civic engagement and healthy civic discourse

• In a time of profound national challenge and change, it is important to promote a new definition of active citizenship locally, nationally and globally. As the effects of economic, political and social globalization continue to underscore interdependence, the imperative of fostering democratic minds among a citizenry is evermore important. It is essential to conceive a common future that encourages the participation of all American citizens; inviting diversity as an asset and broadly reawakening the call to leverage the rich potentials of pluralism in search of common solutions. However, many schools are retreating from basic civics lessons and are not teaching students how to become active citizens. More importantly, public institutions overall do not appear to be advancing the fundamental awareness and skills required for sifting through political hucksterism, opinion masquerading as news and political spin. It is essential for our schools and public institutions to teach the responsibilities and joy of active citizenship. To meet the challenges of democratic cooperation and social cohesion, leaders and citizens alike should be taught and encouraged to openly question, to critique and even to criticize the status quo. The means for cultivating and institutionalizing such habits on a broad scale involves educational reformation and initiatives in civics and citizenship education to increase opportunities for meaningful public engagement. These are by no means the only answer, but they are a critical component for meeting the challenges of truly inclusive and active representative democracy where out of many, we are one.

Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Implementation of a semi-automated processing system for DNA profiling of forensic casework samples

The concept for a semi-automated processing system for DNA analysis of crime scene samples was developed at the Landeskriminalamt Baden-Württemberg (LKA BW) and comprises the extraction of genomic DNA from human cells by ChargeSwitch^® magnetic bead technology (CST), quantification of purified DNA by real-time PCR, amplification of short tandem repeats (STRs) by PCR and DNA fragment length analysis of STRs by capillary electrophoresis. Three liquid handling workstations from Tecan, a real-time PCR device and a 16-channel capillary electrophoresis (CE) system, both from Applied Biosystems (AB), are linked via laboratory data network. Transmission and management of sample and analysis data is enabled by a Laboratory Information and Management System (LIMS). Suitability for a wide range of stain types, early exclusion of DNA-free samples, barcode sample identification and prevention of cross-contaminations guarantee efficiency and high quality standards.     

Zum grundbücherlichen Richtigkeitsgebot und seiner amtswegigen Verwirklichung (§ 28 LiegTeilG) (1. Teil)

Die übereinstimmung zwischen Grundbuch, Kataster und Realit?t liegt im Schnittpunkt zwischen Gesetzgebung und ?konomie im ?ffentlichen Interesse. Im LiegTeilG, sohin an unvermuteter Stelle, ist ein Verfahren zur amtswegigen Verwirklichung dieses Kongruenzprinzips normiert, dessen prozessuales Instrumentarium durch auch jüngste Gesetzgebungsakte direkt und indirekt deformiert worden ist. Diese Abhandlung untersucht, ob die ursprünglich verfolgten gesetzgeberischen Intentionen zur Herstellung der Grundbuchsordnung auf der geltenden Rechtslage im judikativen Weg gem §§ 6 f ABGB revitalisierbar sind oder ob es zu deren Reanimation eines legistischen Eingriffs bedarf.     

Breastfeeding Duration and Reported Child Maltreatment in a Population-based Alaskan Birth Cohort

Journal of Family Violence - Research suggests that breastfeeding may reduce child maltreatment risk. Alaska has high rates of both breastfeeding initiation and maltreatment reports to Child...