By Mathis Harris

Please see: Sesser, Stan. From The New Republic, "Between Beijing and business, the fix is in Hong Kong Betrayed?" Reader's Digest, August 1997.

• Aim: To discuss how people's lives can be totally changed by changing a country's flag.
• Motivation: How has the life of the average resident of Hong Kong changed by changing the country's flag from the British to that of mainland China.
• Activities: Explain the following.
  1. Zunzi's point was that they are doglike lackeys to Beijing who performed obediently wherever they served...
  2. What did the author mean by "the fix is in" in the topic, "Between Beijing and business the fix is in Hong Kong Betrayed?"
  3. Define "Special Administrative Region" (SAR).
  4. Explain "One country, two systems."
  5. Why do you think the author said Beijing has gone a long way toward destroying what democracy there was in Hong Kong?
  6. Why do you think Britain was willing to turn over the colony (see page 104, paragraph 3)? Define the term "colony."
  7. Has the United States had any role in Hong Kong's change of "ownership"? What is Hong Kong's history? Explain the term "First Opium War." Were there other opium wars?
  8. Who are the following people?
     1. Nellie Fong
     2. Martin Lee
     3. Wang Dan
  9. Why do you think these people's points-of-view are all different? They are all residents of Hong Kong.
  10. Why might an American not want to donate or sponsor an art exhibition in Hong Kong (page 107, paragraph 1)?
  11. What does the term "merchant princes" mean? Have you read about this term before? In what context?
  12. What is self-censorship? Why would anyone in their "right mind" want to do this (page 106, paragraph 3)?
  13. Why do you think the Western faculty is leaving Hong Kong? Explain why overseas Chinese might want to take the place of Westerners who are leaving. Why would their "world views" be different (page 106, paragraph 5 and page 107, paragraph 1)?
  14. If you were a human rights worker, why would you want to watch China's attitude toward China Basic Law of 1990 and specifically Article 23 regarding "subversion"? What does subversion mean (page 107, paragraph 7)?
• Medial Summary Question: Are the people of Hong Kong getting a better deal under China's control than they had under Great Britain?
• Summary: Why do you think the cartoonist drew pictures of businessmen wearing a dog's costume about to pick up a dog's head and put it on?

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