A Borrowed Place: THE HISTORY OF HONG KONG Book

Welsh takes a stab at a comprehensive history of Hong Kong, but stumbles along the way. Welsh's take is revisionist, his opening shot being that the first Anglo-Chinese War, also known as the Opium War, was not about opium but about trading rights. His read on the events is interesting, but I do not think that he is fooling anyone.

After the founding, the pattern settles down to a list of governors. As a former longtime resident of Hong Kong it is fascinating to see how many governors have streets in Wanchai named for them. The irony of this is magnificent.

But I would most fault Welsh for his handling of the negotiations between Britain and China prior to the handover. Welsh's timing creates difficulties. He is writing in 1993 when the picture is by no means clear. As well he treats the nationality issue with little detail. Yet, in these years, the devil is in the details. He might have been better to end the history early rather than attempt to bring the history straight up to the time he was writing.

The economic changes in Hong Kong from a relatively freewheeling economy to a property oligarchy are also unremarked on, although there is a fascinating comment that Li Ka-shing bought Hutchison at a grossly undervalued price. Much greater investigation is merited here as it speaks to the transformation of Hong Kong, but Welsh is looking at politics in this era and less at the economic transformation.

All in all, a frustrating book. It could have been so much more.