Lord Chris Patten, the last Governor of Hong Kong, attended the “UK Hong Kong Summit 2023 in London on March 27. He praised Hong Kong people for contributing to the United Kingdom, affirming they had been a tremendous addition to British society.
Patten also expressed his hope that there would be a British Prime Minister from Hong Kong in the future.
The 78-year-old Chancellor of the University of Oxford gave a half-hour speech at the summit. Patten was trembling with a microphone in his hand during his speech. He explained that he was fine but had a hospital appointment after the event.
Hope for Hongkongers
Patten talked of an Indian couple who migrated to the United Kingdom long ago, whose son, Rishi Sunak, became the country’s prime minister.He used Sunak’s story as an inspiration to Hongkongers. Patten joked that he might not be alive to witness the day. Nonetheless, he firmly believed that someday, there would be a future president of the Royal Society, judges, cabinet members from Hong Kong, and a Hong Kong-born prime minister.
Baron Patten of Barnes praised Hongkongers for bringing and contributing their talents, skill sets, and spirits to the United Kingdom.
He added that he would run into many Hongkongers wherever he went in the UK, in a park or his alma mater of a middle school in West London. The school hired a new chemistry teacher who was from Hong Kong,
A Hongkonger he met on his walk turned out to be someone he had previously taken a photograph with while holding a yellow umbrella in Oxford. The boy had become a diabetes specialist after completing his medical degree at Oxford University.
The young man asked Patten on behalf of his girlfriend, who was studying for a master’s degree in life science.
“Should we go back to Hong Kong?”
That question was the most difficult for Patten. Although he did not elaborate on how he answered at the time, Patten believed that he could learn from the past.
Hong Kong and East Berlin
Patten recalled an experience of a good friend of his, who was once the Minister of European Affairs of the British government. Around the time his friend visited Berlin on business in 1989, a local young man was reportedly shot and killed by the East Berlin guards when he tried to flee to West Berlin.Two weeks later, East Berlin and East Germany crumbled. Patten noted tyranny would not last forever and would lose until it eventually melted away. Patten stated that the same would go for the Chinese Communist Party.
Hongkongers’ Well-being in the UK
Patten also mentioned that the Hongkongers attending the summit would remind the British government of its moral and political responsibilities to Hong Kong and the members of Congress to look out for Hong Kong and speak out for its political prisoners.He also spoke about the incident in Manchester in 2022, when the diplomats of the Chinese Community Party were attacking people; the CCP’s embassy staff suppressed students and those who attended social movements in Hong Kong.
Another problem Hongkongers faced in the UK was under the BNO visa program.
Young people would not be eligible to enroll in universities with lower tuition fees for local students. Patten hoped the British Home Office would ramp up the processing of political refugee applications from Hong Kong.
He believed the Chinese Community Party threatened the UK’s long-term interests of national security, economy, values, and institutions.
When Xi Jinping became a lifelong dictator, the rule of law, separation of powers, role of civil society in a free and open community, legislative democracy, and freedom of speech threatened the regime’s supremacy.
Perseverance Wins the Race
Patten emphasized that Hongkongers represent not only the past but also the future and possibly beyond Hong Kong, which he described as an unstoppable force.He also referenced the wisdom of Nelson Mandela, “Nobody can lock up an idea, and nobody can lock up the idea of freedom and the rule of law and shared decency.”
