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Hong Kong Disneyland

If I reme
2046 is today...

This might belong in a different thread, but if anyone has any good recommendations, I'd love to hear about some books that deal specifically with Hong Kong's transfer back to China. I understand Britain had a finite lease on Hong Kong, but even so you would think Britain, previously the world's foremost colonial power, would understand A. the economic benefit of owning an Asian economic hub, and B. the fact that colonization, though an exploitative and destructive process, irrevocably changes the culture of a colony in ways that make a return to pre-colonial life impossible (or in this case, a return to a different kind of leadership and politics, from democracy to authoritarian). Unless Britain was strapped for cash or Britain foresaw China's rapid growth and wanted good diplomatic terms on which to participate in that growth, the decision makes no sense to me.

Sorry for the political digression.
If I remember correctly, I believe Britain's lease was up, thus the negotiations with China to turn it over under those conditions, which China is now reneging on. . Also, the UK was no longer in a position where they could militarily defend the area. I still remember the couple of years prior to the turnover. My cousin was a high powered corporate real estate attorney in Toronto. He would tell us stories of Hong Kong business people, nervous about China's future role in Hong Kong, showing up in his office with suitcases filled with cash that they were using to buy Canadian real estate as a safe refuge for their money. Many of the wealthy ended up immigrating to Canada also. When the Western powers allowed China into the World Bank, which enabled China's rapid business growth and expansion, they thought that would drive China towards a more democratic system. That worked for a while. But once Xi took over the govt., he has steered China back to the direction of a strong central party communist totalitarian government. Those protesters in Hong Kong will soon find themselves disappearing into re-education camps, or even worse, after a midnight knock on the door. This is going to be a story with a very sad ending.....China want's to do the same with Taiwan, thus the continual huge military presence across the sea. China does not recognize Taiwan as an independent country. They regard it as their possession.
 
2046 is today...

This might belong in a different thread, but if anyone has any good recommendations, I'd love to hear about some books that deal specifically with Hong Kong's transfer back to China. I understand Britain had a finite lease on Hong Kong, but even so you would think Britain, previously the world's foremost colonial power, would understand A. the economic benefit of owning an Asian economic hub, and B. the fact that colonization, though an exploitative and destructive process, irrevocably changes the culture of a colony in ways that make a return to pre-colonial life impossible (or in this case, a return to a different kind of leadership and politics, from democracy to authoritarian). Unless Britain was strapped for cash or Britain foresaw China's rapid growth and wanted good diplomatic terms on which to participate in that growth, the decision makes no sense to me.

Sorry for the political digression.

I don't know of any books but there are some interesting articles online if you search for HK british rule.

To be fair, can you imagine Britain still 'owning' Hong Kong in 2020? There would be uproar about colonial masters still wielding their power.

Britain handed Hong Kong back with an agreement that HK would stay somewhat independant until at least 2047, and that has sucessfully been the case until XI came into power. Every time Britain tries to mediate or ask China to listen to protestors concerns Beijing accuses the British of interfering, stoking up trouble and creating problems where there aren't any.

Ironically one of the reasons Disney opened in HK first was because of it's more western and open society.

It really is concerning, for any other country this alone would be enough to cause the world to come together to isolate and sanction them. China is doing this, locking up millions of it's citizens in 're-education centers' and through cover ups has just caused a global pandemic to spread around the world, and still we will all do nothing.

I really do feel for the people of HK, I hope this goes their way.
 
I don't know of any books but there are some interesting articles online if you search for HK british rule.

To be fair, can you imagine Britain still 'owning' Hong Kong in 2020? There would be uproar about colonial masters still wielding their power.

Britain handed Hong Kong back with an agreement that HK would stay somewhat independant until at least 2047, and that has sucessfully been the case until XI came into power. Every time Britain tries to mediate or ask China to listen to protestors concerns Beijing accuses the British of interfering, stoking up trouble and creating problems where there aren't any.

Ironically one of the reasons Disney opened in HK first was because of it's more western and open society.

It really is concerning, for any other country this alone would be enough to cause the world to come together to isolate and sanction them. China is doing this, locking up millions of it's citizens in 're-education centers' and through cover ups has just caused a global pandemic to spread around the world, and still we will all do nothing.

I really do feel for the people of HK, I hope this goes their way.
I couldn't agree with you more..... and....during the past 'eight' years, US Intelligence & the Defense Department have continually reiterated that China's aggressive expansive policies are the largest security concern and threat for the US in the world.....Unfortunately, I think this will bode very badly for the youth of Hong Kong that have a thirst for democracy.
 
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China's ruling Communist Party just announced new rules and laws, that for all intents and purposes, takes away any semblance of self rule from Hong Kong. The crackdown, on Hong Kong's limited autonomy & partial democracy, is on the near horizon.
Probably not the thread to talk about this...

That being said this is a reason I'll probably never see this park, Shanghai, or US Beijing. I have so little desire to reward the CCP with my money when I can help it. Tough when that comes to consumer goods, but easy to do with my tourism dollars
 
Probably not the thread to talk about this...

That being said this is a reason I'll probably never see this park, Shanghai, or US Beijing. I have so little desire to reward the CCP with my money when I can help it. Tough when that comes to consumer goods, but easy to do with my tourism dollars
Honestly, there's not even a ton unique to HKDL except for Mystic Manor or Grizzly Gulch (which is just sort of an updated BTM). The only thing I feel like I need to see at Shanghai that we don't have here is Pirates (since we're getting TRON), but hopefully we'll at least get something using that ride tech someday.
 
Honestly, there's not even a ton unique to HKDL except for Mystic Manor or Grizzly Gulch (which is just sort of an updated BTM). The only thing I feel like I need to see at Shanghai that we don't have here is Pirates (since we're getting TRON), but hopefully we'll at least get something using that ride tech someday.
HKDL would have been a day thing whenever I actually visited Hong Kong, as I did want to visit the city. But no longer.
 
It will be interesting what happens, because the people of Hong Kong aren't just going to take this without a fight.
Unfortunately, they'll probably get beat up, bloodied, arrested during street demonstrations, arrested at home in the middle of the night, their families threatened, and then transported to re education camps, traditional prisons, or disappear for ever. That's the M.O. of the Chinese government throughout the nation in all cases of dissent, even from those that are 'connected' or 'wealthy businessmen'. No dissent allowed. Those of us that post on the CVirus threads would surely all have been arrested for our social media comments if we lived in China. Really, that's the major reason people blindly follow the rules....'fear'.....This is going to be bad news for the Disneyland park that has struggled since it opened. Business visits to Hong Kong and tourists from foreign nations will drop even more....Why is China doing this? With Shanghai's emergence as a financial center, they no longer need Hong Kong for it's financial leadership....and it's a clear signal to Taiwan, and any other restive region. China, like the US is a large country with many different ethnic groups and cultures. ....Such a shame, since, though the park is smallish, it may well have the most beautiful setting for a Disney Park. .
 
Alright, I guess I didn't realize the thread we were in when I responded. It's a very political topic so let's try to keep that at a minimum unless it's warranted for this thread.
 
Hong Kong Disneyland just opened. The PR photo looked like there were 'maybe' about ten people on Main Street....story on Theme Park insider
 
Hong Kong is an entire new ballgame now. Beijing is calling the shots. There's certainly probably more to this than the 'economic' excuse used.
 
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