The approach of the 10th anniversary of the handover has produced a wealth of memoirs and recollections, including interviews with people who were closely involved in the Sino-British negotiations and the drafting of the Basic Law.
One interesting guest on Cable TV was Lu Ping, former director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, who retired in 1997 and had disappeared from public view for the past 10 years. Mr Lu had interesting things to say about Chris Patten, the pegging of the Hong Kong currency to the American dollar, and the mainland's attempts to please tycoons.
But it was what he didn't say that was even more interesting. Mr Lu, who in the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square military crackdown had the thankless task of reassuring Hong Kong people that all would be well after 1997, made a number of promises which, for some reason, he did not recall in the interview.
One promise he made was on freedom of the press. Mr Lu assured the Hong Kong press that after 1997, while newspapers would not be allowed to advocate Taiwan's independence, they were free to report it as news if someone else were to support it.
Well, Mr Lu did not foresee the election of pro-independence politician Chen Shui-bian as Taiwanese president in 2000, an event to which Beijing reacted very badly. Repercussions were felt in Hong Kong, too.
On April 12, 2000, shortly after Mr Chen's inauguration, Wang Fengchao, deputy director of the central government's liaison office in Hong Kong, warned journalists not to report pro-independence news, as it was the media's duty to 'defend the sovereignty and integrity of the country'. Mr Lu's promises, it seemed, were forgotten. The Basic Law's provision that the press would be free was also conveniently forgotten.
Sadly, even the Hong Kong government failed to stand up against this flagrant attempt at interference in the city's domestic affairs.
