US president George H.W. Bush in Hong Kong: photos from his trips between 1978 and 2001
- George H.W. Bush visited Hong Kong at least seven times in public and private capacities, and once fired the Noon Day Gun
- He met a variety of people, including Governor Sir Edward Youde, businessman Sir Lawrence Kadoorie, and Anson Chan, head of Hong Kong’s civil service
Former US president George H.W. Bush, whose state funeral takes place in Washington on Wednesday, visited Hong Kong at least seven times – often delivering words of reassurance concerning its future and that of China.
However, his first high-profile trip to the city came more than a decade before he became president. In April 1978, he was in Hong Kong on business as an executive of First International Bank. He fired the Noon Day Gun in Causeway Bay and told guests at a Foreign Correspondents’ Club (FCC) talk that he hoped to see a normalisation of relations between the United States and China.
That was six years after Richard Nixon’s historic trip to Beijing to meet Mao Zedong, which marked the resumption of harmonious Sino-US relations. It also coincided with the opening up of the Chinese economy 40 years ago.
He may have been just another big-shot banker at the time, but it is hardly surprising that Bush’s opinions were being sought by FCC members. Bush had been head of the US Liaison Office in Beijing from 1974 to 1975, before taking on the role of Central Intelligence Agency director for a year in 1976, so he was close to the heart of the US administration.
He was back in Hong Kong again in October 1985, and this time his star had risen. Bush was now the US vice-president, serving as Ronald Reagan’s right-hand man.
