OpinionSuccess has many fathers
Hong Kong Disneyland was a hard-fought deal but others tried to claim credit for it, too
It was not a particularly striking item in the newspaper at the time and I suspect most readers will have barely noticed it.
But something about the piece struck me as odd and familiar at the same time; and the follow up a few days later brought back all the old memories. Déjà vu!
The first story a few weeks ago quoted a senior official in the Central People's Government as saying the decision by an international law body to set up its regional office in Hong Kong was a "gift" from Beijing to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the handover.
Only extensive lobbying by the CPG had secured the project for the SAR. I remember thinking when I read it that it was strange such a body - the Hague Conference on Private International Law - should have been susceptible to government influence. Moreover, on the InvestHK website there is a video of retired Appeal Court Judge Michael Hartmann (Hong Kong's representative to the conference) talking about the case and the help given by the department.
"Oh well," I thought, "they say success has many fathers, while failure is an orphan."
That might have been the end of it, had it not been for the clarification about one week after the initial report.
The secretary-general of the Hague Conference issued a flat denial of the official's statement. Hong Kong was chosen purely for its judicial autonomy and separation of powers, he said.