The Hong Kong Conundrum: Pangs of Transition

The peaceful surrender of Hong Kong to China on the midnight of 30 June 1997 after almost one hundred and fifty-six years of colonial rule was unique in the annals of history. Rarely before had one power surrendered a rich prize to another. The credit for finding a solution to the peaceful reunification of Hong Kong, a capital enclave, with mainland China, a socialist country, through the formula of ‘one country, two systems’ goes to Deng Xiaoping, China’s most pragmatic leader. Deng, howev...