Another Asian Giant

The moment will also be savoured by the Chinese leadership as marking the end of 150 years of shame. It was the opium war of the 1840s which China lost that marked the decline of a proud and leading civilisation. The defeat directly led to the forced lease of Hong Kong to the British by the weak Chinese emperor. Be that as it may, todays event signals the arrival on the world scene of the second Asian economic superpower, with far greater claims to be included in the Group of Seven than Russia, or indeed G7 members other than US, Japan and Germany.

Hong Kong has prospered enormously in recent decades. Its 6.5 million people have a per capita income of $23,000