Customer Reviews

Dealing With the Dragon: A Year in the New Hong Kong

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Since the handover of Hong Kong to the Chinese government in 1997, the former British colony seems to be slowly slipping out of the world's attention. In Mr. Fenby's look at the year 1999 as Hong Kong lived it, we see not only why we need to watch Hong Kong closely, but we realize what stakes China is playing with as it slowly comes to terms with theis quasi-democratic city and its place in the world.

Mr. Fenby writes the book as essentially a journalist's diary that spans the entire course of 1999 - the final year that Mr. Fenby was editor of the South China Morning Post, arguably the premiere English-language newspaper in Hong Kong. He details not only the key figures in Hong Kong politics and the economy - at a very personal level - but also how China deals with Hong Kong and how the events of 1999 (everything from Falun Gong to the Taliban) shaped China's responses.

I think Mr. Fenby sees 1999 as not only the year that China stopped observing Hong Kong and began acting, but also the year that many of the fundamental agreememnts laid down between China and Hong Kong got tested. He shows the slow erosion of judicial and political autonomy caused, not through outright repression, but by behind-the-scenes deal-making and a desire of the political powers-that-be in Hong Kong not to ruffle mainland feathers.

His book is eminently readable and in many parts reads more like a political thriller than a diary or a report. If there is one criticism with the book, it is that when Mr. Fenby loses his job at the South China Morning Post in July of 1999, his personal hurt comes out quite clearly in the course of the narrative and possibly influences his objectivity throughout the rest of the year. However, were it me, I think that I would be hard-pressed to maintain even Mr. Fenby's level of detachment.

All in all, the book is not only fascinating and illuminating, but it is also quite enjoyable. I found myself caught up in the power play between China and Hong Kong as if it were a first-rate novel. However, the book is not a novel, and it does contain some rather chilling messages for the future of Hong Kong. If you have any interest in China - or interest in China's relationship with the Western world - I recommend not missing this book.

I read Mr Fenby's book on a plane ride from Rio to Hong Kong. It was the perfect antidote to spending hours on a plane. The first part of the book is a compendium of facts, views and background on Hong Kong particularly as they relate to the handover to China. So by the time I got to London I was an expert on the fascinating topic. I then started on the diary section where Jonathan picks out news items and events during his last year in Hong Kong. Now I was an expert on the "Handover" I could laugh at all his wonderful one-liners. (Such as his final sentence on a piece describing some particularly errant behaviour by the authorities in Hong Kong: "One country, three systems"). He also contrasts, with devastating effect, the ideological flag waving for the "love of motherland" with almost daily reports of corruption in China. A wonderful book that will educate and amuse in equal doses.

"Dealing with the Dragon" - what an awful title. It almost put me off reading this. I'm happy to report that the book is far better than the title suggests. I lived in Hong Kong from 1996 until 2004, and return there often. Fenby's book made me feel that I now understand Hong Kong and China a lot better. 1999 news stories I was aware of, but never felt I truly understood (Court of Final Appeal ruling, Cyberport etc) are concisely recounted here. The exploits of gangsters like Broken Tooth and Big Spender are retold, but their political significances are explained.

Fenby is a far from neutral observer. He makes no secret of his belief in democracy and press freedom. He doesn't just recount big Hong Kong and China news stories of 1999, he also tells of his run-ins with his South China Morning Post bosses. Yes, he suggests a political angle in their behavior. Some may see the bias, and sometimes personal aspects of Fenby's book as flaws. I must disagree. Knowing Hong Kong, his suggestion that Mainland interference (and fear of Mainland interference) plays a huge part in how Hong Kong conducts itself, is convincing. I also appreciate the more personal aspects, as they prevent this book from just being a detached tale of bureaucrats, legislators and communist jackboots.

Once you get past the Kung Fu theater title, and the slightly labored "city of contrasts" opening, you are in for a great primer on Hong Kong (and China). Not just for HK residents.