ABOUT THIS BOOK

A careful analysis of the intricacies of decolonizing British-ruled Hong Kong.

Man in a Hurry explores the latest available archival materials and re-examines MacLehose’s pivotal governorship in Hong Kong (1971–1982). MacLehose arrived in the challenging 1970s, when there were expectations for social reforms, uneasiness in the relationship between Hong Kong and London, and the 1997 factor looming large. The governor successfully carried out various social reforms and he also handled various major issues, including the anti-corruption campaign, the Vietnamese refugee crisis, and the granting of land lease of the New Territories beyond 1997. Yep unveils the tension and bargaining between the British government and explains how interest of the colony could be asserted, defended, and negotiated. This book is an important study of Hong Kong’s "golden years" when the city’s economy took off. It is a significant contribution to our understanding of how local autonomy was defined.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Ray Yep is research director of the Hong Kong History Centre, University of Bristol, UK.

REVIEWS

“The manuscript is the first archive-based account of MacLehose’s governorship through the lens of colony-sovereign relations. By combining historical research with theoretical insights, it enhances our understanding of how Hong Kong earned and defended its autonomy, and of how the British Empire was being run in the age of decolonization."

— Chi-kwan Mark

“Prof. Yep makes the convincing and compelling argument that the degree of pressure from the sovereign was situational, and depended upon the sovereign’s level of commitment to particular issues; he provides a useful taxonomy to characterize the sovereign’s intervention with regard to the four main topics (corruption, social reforms, the Vietnamese refugee crisis, and the looming expiration of the New Territories lease).”

— Mark Hampton

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Figure and Tables viii
Acknowledgements ix
1. Introduction p1
2. The Restive 1960s p22
3. Pre-empting the Sovereign: The Creation of ICAC and the Police
Mutiny p45
4. Pushing Back: Social Reforms and the Hong Kong Planning Paper p78
5. Humanitarianism Outsourced: The Vietnamese Refugee Crisis,
1975–1979 p108
6. Asserting Local Concern: Land Leases in the New Territories and
the Future of Hong Kong p138
7. Final Remarks p170
Bibliography p187
Index p195