ON July 1, 1997, Hong Kong, the last vestige of British imperialism in China, will be restored to Chinese sovereignty. One hundred and fifty-five years will have passed since the end of the Opium War, when the British forced the Chinese to cede the island of Hong Kong; one hundred and thirty-seven years will have passed since they took Kowloon; and ninety-nine years will have passed since the British forced the Chinese to grant them a “lease” over the New Territories, a few square miles of the mainland across from the island. For Great Britain, the lowering of the Union Jack on June 30, 1997, will be further evidence (hardly needed) of imperial decline. For China, as the People's Liberation Army marches in the next day, as the red flag with five gold stars is raised over Hong Kong, the moment will symbolize the end of China's age of humiliation, further evidence of China's emergence as a Great Power, another step toward Chinese hegemony over East Asia.

What will the reversion of Hong Kong mean to the people of Hong Kong – and to the rest of us – who invest, trade, and shop there? Over the last fifty years Hong Kong has served as a refuge for those who fled communism in China, who escaped from the political oppression and economic hardship they experienced under the rule of Mao Zedong.