I was there that day, and when I watched the boat sail away, I thought: “Something very good has just gone.” On the other hand, British operate from a different cultural history where there is far more emphasis on the sanctity of written contracts. Given British confidence in their legal system, it is often assumed that all aspects of a contract should be honored and violations settled in court. The differences in the rule of law and justice system between the UK and China can be seen in Patten’s conversation with Lu Ping. As widely known, British jurisdiction system lies in common law tradition, while in China, people are governed by the rules of the Chinese Communist Party. In one conversation, Patten mentioned the rule of law, and reports that “Lu said, but we have the rule of law too”. Patten replied, “[No,] you have rule by law” (p.72). The highlight or maybe lowlight of the Patten week is that Whisky has been arrested for nipping a labourer who was doing some repairs in GH. He has been taken off looking very sorry for himself to government kennels for a week in quarantine. The press are hugely excited. Some people think that our dogs are better known than Lavender and I. Perhaps this is because neither of us has ever bitten a builder. Friday 30 September

The book gives unprecedented insights into negotiating with the Chinese, about how the institutions of democracy in Hong Kong were (belatedly) strengthened and how Patten sought to ensure that a strong degree of self-government would continue after 1997. 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. Patten said Xi must learn “what an incredibly dangerous enterprise it would be” after seeing the difficulties the Russian army has faced in Ukraine and the world’s reaction.Conversely, Chinese delegates are much more reserved. Plans and intentions are not open to the public and a wide range of facts and ideas are often brought to negotiations. Chinese negotiators often prefer settling disagreements ‘under the table’ with formal negotiations serving as more or less a ‘rubber stamp’ for decisions reached behind the scenes. Unlike British, Chinese prefer hiding their intentions and let their counterparts guess their preferences. For example, Lu Ping, Head of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, PRC (hereafter Lu) did not directly denounce Patten’s tough negotiation style. Instead, Lu emphasized how he had maintained strong friendships with Patten’s four predecessors. He implicitly used the skills of ‘China-speak for itself’, warning Patten to “better toe the line just like the [four predecessors]” (p.71). In other words, Lu wanted Patten to soften Patten’s tough negotiation style and cooperated with them.

The Chinese clearly want the talks to be seen to be between the sovereign powers and don’t want Hong Kong to have a look in. They have a metaphor to cover this point which is either meaningless or daft – they talk about not having a three-legged stool. But I wonder whether whoever thought of this ridiculous metaphor has ever tried to sit on a two-legged stool. Tuesday 13 April

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The ethnocentric view of culture argues that we evaluate other cultures solely by the values and standards of our own culture. The cultural clashes between Chris Patten and Chinese delegates are revealed in terms of their family values, communication skills, negotiation strategies, and contractual arrangements. Broadly speaking, they reflect cultural differences between the East and West. From this perspective, Patten’s book makes much sense. Therefore, to resolve the ongoing chaotic situation in Hong Kong, understanding differences in cultural values between China and the UK is of utmost importance. Hong Kong's last British governor accuses Beijing of 'vengefully' targeting city's freedoms - Hong Kong Free Press HKFP Close 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. Patten’s diaries are not recommended for those in search of a “speed read”. They are long, and sometimes one is as tired as Patten must have been at the end of his days of endless meetings with the Chinese. They tell, however, a terrific tale, one that will appeal not just to Sinologists but to all historians, since it is effectively a record of the end days of an empire which, at its height in 1922, was the largest the world had ever seen, covering a third of the world’s land and ruling over 459 million people. wonderfully waspish, fascinating and rude in spades about all the people who deserve nothing less. Stephen Vines, Literary Review

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 Unexpectedly, his opponents included not only the Chinese themselves, but some British businessmen and civil service mandarins upset by Patten's efforts, for whom political freedom and the rule of law in Hong Kong seemed less important than keeping on the right side of Beijing. The book concludes with an account of what has happened in Hong Kong since the handover, a powerful assessment of recent events and Patten's reflections on how to deal with China - then and now. Kerry told me a grim little story. A young expatriate friend of his wife had been travelling in a lift, the only Westerner with a group of Cantonese. One had said to her rudely, ‘why don’t you go home?’ ‘I am home,’ she replied. ‘This isn’t your home,’ he went on. ‘Go home.’ Another of Kerry’s friends is married to a Chinese woman. She still fumes over the patronizing way she’d often been treated by third-rate expat businessmen, some of whom seemed to regard Hong Kong as an extension of Guildford. The sins of blimps in blazers at the Hong Kong Club are going to rebound on us. Thursday 1–Friday 30 August We are starting to have discussions about the handover ceremony. This evening one of my doctors came for a talk not about my heart but about his pension. He told me that he is going to resign this year. Why won’t he stay on after he is 55? Because he doesn’t trust the Chinese to pay his pension. There’s a limit to how much reassurance I can give. Friday 22 SeptemberI’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) There are also very different views across the Foreign Office about how to deal with all this. There is a cadre at the top of older Sinophiles who think that only people with their experience of dealing with the Chinese know quite how to behave. They pretty well take it for granted that ultimately you have to go along with Beijing rather than risk arguments. There is a group in the middle, about my own age, who seem to be prepared to be rather more robust with the Chinese. A younger group are much more ebullient in their views and think we should flex our own muscles occasionally. Boris Johnson has written a piece about me for the Daily Telegraph which is surprisingly kind. I’m quite pleased that the only person who is rude about me in the article is David Chu, whose name Johnson spells very satisfactorily as though he was a character out of Thomas the Tank Engine. Sunday 3 December 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. Across the harbour, the owner of Hunter Bookstore in Mong Kok said it had also sold over a hundred copies, with only a “small number” left. Chris Patten’s “The Hong Kong Diaries” at Hunter Bookstore in Mong Kok. Photo: Supplied.