The Lord of the Jungle roars into town. Hezza [Michael Heseltine] arrived just before Friday lunchtime after a week in China with nearly 300 British businessmen. I like Michael, who has always been kind to me and loyal. He is brazenly broad brush and sometimes hams things up pretty outrageously. But he’s one of the few ‘big beasts’ in British politics. A Hezza premiership would certainly have had a lot of flash, bang and sometimes wallop, but on most of the big things he is absolutely right. I woke at about 4.15am, my arms and hands rigid with adrenaline. The message for the day was, ‘we are making a fresh start with China’. The Prime Minister took me on one side and said that he hoped they could square this message with the expression of a lasting commitment to Hong Kong. I think he’s genuine about this and that he is trying to be courteous to me as well.

During the launch Monday of “The Hong Kong Diaries”, his book based on his time as governor, Patten told reporters, “the most difficult part of the job was… negotiating with China to try to safeguard ‘One Country Two Systems’.”I would say it is one of our bestselling books this year,” Leticia Wong, a former district councillor, said. I’ve got increasingly cross about references to Chinese ‘face’ (by the older group in particular) and feel that we need to refer ourselves to British ‘face’ from time to time.” (p.17)

We crossed the harbour, one of the great journeys in the world. Fire boats spray water; a 17-gun salute resounds from HMS Tamar, the onshore naval base; and there was a fly-past by planes and helicopters. I was never greeted like this in Bath. Friday 10 July I began the month with a deeply depressing lunch with the board of Standard Chartered Bank. They are critical of what we are doing in Hong Kong – no, not critical, really hostile. They don’t think we should be doing or saying anything which annoys Beijing. Their advice and knowledge of what is happening in Hong Kong and China seems remarkably limited and deeply and uninterestingly small-‘c’ conservative. Friday 19 November The Chinese, meanwhile, are uneasy that Britain might be milking Hong Kong before they leave – not without reason, as it had been done before, with British firms favoured for government contracts. (Sometimes, in the colonies, the milk flowed the wrong way!)

Beyond doubt, Chris Patten as the last governor of Hong Kong has leave some indelible marks in the city, which has always been a key player in global economy and, lately, politics. It is within readers' expectation to get some insights from his book on the past, present and future of Hong Kong. However, this book will probably disappoint everyone who wish to learn more about the city through his writing. So much of the next year is going to be predictable. First, we – I – will start to look more and more irrelevant. People will question the point of making a fuss about anything any more. Alleged pragmatism will dictate turning a blind eye to bad Chinese behaviour. The press will either write stories saying that we in general and the Governor in particular are beleaguered and irrelevant, or else are selling out Hong Kong’s interests. We will have more problems with the Foreign Office and the Beijing embassy as they all opt for neat tidying up. The imminence of a general election will make critical and hostile officials even more difficult to deal with. So what should we do? I am determined to keep singing the same tunes. The long term is what matters. Sunday 1 September In his farewell speech in 1997, Patten said it had been “the greatest honour and privilege” of his life to have been governor and to have “some responsibility for Hong Kong’s future”.

The Diaries shows that Patten’s relationship with Chinese officials is often less than harmonious, and at times antagonistic. Lu ended up describing Patten as “a sinner for thousand generations to come” (p.86). This is a rather heavy condemnation for Patten, as if the Chinese ‘face’ was ‘torn off’. Conclusion Lord Patten spent much of his time in Hong Kong struggling against British officials and members of the local elite who believed it was not worth trying to push China to accept more democracy in pre-handover Hong Kong-much less expanding it without China's approval. Some of the most riveting detail in this rich volume relates to these tensions. ... The author's entertaining language brings these diaries to life. Economist

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At the general election on 9 April 1992, Conservative Party chairman Chris Patten, who had been the MP for Bath since 1979, lost his seat to the Liberal Democrats. But this was far from the end of the story: the Prime Minister, John Major, saw him as the ideal candidate to become the last Governor of Hong Kong… Here, in an exclusive extract from his diaries, he gives an unprecedented insight into fraught negotiations with China and the path to 'one country, two systems'. Friday 17–Tuesday 21 April 1992 From a sociological perspective, one’s own cultural group appears to be at the center of everything, and all other cultures can be scaled and rated with reference to it. This inevitable consequence of culture is reflected in the ways British and Chinese contrast sharply in many ways of doing things, and these differences can lead to situations where both sides may seem rather eccentric to the other. Chinese culture tends to be collectivist, and individuals are often subordinate to social groups, such as the family and the state. This view of social relationships is undoubtedly influenced by traditional Confucianism, where individual’s success often relies on family connections, and is far less likely to be attributed to individual effort. Chinese culture also promotes specific forms of modesty and self-depreciation, and restricts radical deviations in social behavior and innovation. After thousands of years of socialization, the Chinese have evolved into a distinct culture. For example, Chinese use mianzi (or ‘face’) culture to cover up pitfalls they may experience in social, economic, and foreign policies. Mianzi (or ‘face’) in the context of Chinese culture, links with notions of honour, dignity, self-worth and prestige that a person feels in social interaction. ‘Face’ is given when a person receives a public compliment or is seated at the head of a banquet table – these are signs of being elevated. ‘Face’ will be lost when a person is openly insulted. It would be devastating in social interactions if Chinese ‘faces’ have been torn off. In other words, the Chinese are extremely annoyed if ‘no face’ is given to them in everyday life. Since the United Kingdom enjoys a strong tradition of democratic equality, the British people do not crave ‘face’ in the same way that it is emphasized in China. As Patten notes: There is a dilemma in publishing a diary that even as articulate as an MP at Westminster cannot run away from, namely integrity and readability. Reporting every bit of emotions and every chance encounter can put readers to sleep, or conversely invite scepticism if brevity has been preferred to comprehensiveness. The Hong Kong Diaries ... details his persistent but ultimately failed efforts to secure the continuance of Hong Kong's freedoms ... Despite Mr. Patten's best efforts, Hong Kong became the canary in the mine shaft, showing what happens when the Chinese Communist Party is allowed to get its way. Over the diary hangs the mystery of whether Deng Xiaoping will survive until the handover. Gossip is rife. “The story is that Deng’s family are busy looking for a cosmetic expert, and not the sort that you need when you are alive,” writes Patten on October 19 1994. “This is thought to have some significance because when Mao died he apparently went green, which caused all sorts of problems when it came to embalming him.” Deng almost makes it, only dying on February 19 1997.

Despite being heavily engaged with his public duties, Patten did not neglect his family nor did he refrain from leisure. We wonder how Patten, apart from his Sino-British negotiations, could handle so many miscellaneous family affairs, including Kate’s car accident, the disappearance of his puppy, and his many meetings and social gatherings. Differences in communication and negotiation strategies So you have a former publisher of the hard-right Wall Street Journal repeating them: “These Chinese Communist Party curses [sinner, prostitute, etc] testify to Chris Patten’s performance as the last British governor of Hong Kong and Cassandra of its recent destruction at the hands of China’s leaders in Beijing. Mr Patten’s The Hong Kong Diaries, compiled from the journal he kept during his 1992-97 governorship, details his persistent but ultimately failed efforts to secure the continuance of Hong Kong’s freedoms.” Whatever we had done in terms of changes before 1997 were unlikely to have affected the way that the Chinese Communist Party behaved after the arrival of Xi Jinping in the top job,” Patten said. A big and dangerous occasion tonight. We agreed some time ago to do an Any Questions? BBC broadcast from the ballroom in GH. I didn’t realise what a storm I was about to create. I had rehearsed beforehand what I should say if asked about the holders of dependent-territory passports being given right of abode in the UK. In my reply, I said that I thought that a British passport shouldn’t just be about helping people to hop on and off an aeroplane; nor that this would mean that everyone with one of the dependent-territory passports would get on a plane and head for the United Kingdom. Sunday 24 September However, British thought differently. Patten alleged that China’s intention did not focus on the legality of contracts, but cared much on confidence in the market, lower morale and investor confidence (p.85). Taking property rights seriously in the contract, Patten defended British rights in Hong Kong all the way before 1997. He wanted China to know that Britain was still fully in power before 1997. Admittedly, any political reform before 1997 was set to influence Hong Kong for many years to come. For this reason, both China and the United Kingdom agreed to extend the “One Country, Two Systems” until 2047. Patten’s democratic reform in the LegCo would affect the future of Hong Kong society. Therefore, the implementation of democratic reform in Hong Kong would annoy China. Patten might not know or realize that Chinese are taught to be loyal and obedient to their leaders.

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I wrote a letter to the Prime Minister to say that I would like to go to Hong Kong. I felt a bit guilty about leaving him and the government. But, as Lavender [Patten’s wife] said, I wasn’t really to blame! The truth is that I am at the heart of a great irony in which the Governor of Hong Kong has been chosen by the electors of Bath. After we landed, we went to the main airport building, where our clothes were brought to us so we could make an appropriately well dressed entry to the city. I have a rather smart double-breasted grey suit which I bought just before we left from Aquascutum; later it was described by the appalling Nicholas Fairbairn as a Harry Lime outfit. At least it doesn’t have broad chalk stripes and wasn’t, like most of my suits, bought off the peg at Marks & Spencer. I get my first insight into the marvellously competent way in which my life is going to be arranged from now on. My ADC, an immaculately dressed police superintendent, has brought a couple of extra pairs of cufflinks and a belt just in case I forgot them myself. I’m to learn in due course that I’m not really trusted to dress myself any more. We drove from the airport to the quayside in Kowloon through cheering, waving crowds. They were very responsive when I practised my royal wave. Chris Patten grew up in an Irish Catholic family in West London and was the son of a popular music publisher. After reading Modern History at Balliol College, Oxford and graduating in 1965, Patten joined the Conservative Party the following year. He served as Minister of State in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (1986-1989), Secretary of State for the Environment (1989-1990), and Chairman of the Conservative Party (1990-1992). He was the last British governor of Hong Kong from 1992 to 1997. Extraordinary negotiations about whether the Archbishop should stay in GH when he is here. The local bishop has said that he shouldn’t come near GH because it will be bad for relations with China. It all seems a long way from the delegation of Anglican bishops who came to see me before I left for Hong Kong, urging me to stand up for Hong Kong’s democracy and civil liberties. Sunday 17 December Patten’s sense of humour shines through every day, and he needs it. “Our terrific chefs made sure that whatever was being said about me by Beijing, my morale was not entirely blown away. Inevitably I started to put on weight.” He has a way of adding to finished sentences with a little clip like that, as in “James doesn’t drink … (well not very much).” His chatty style makes the diary an easy read, in spite of its length.