A good overview of political developments in Hong Kong since the return to Chinese rule in a concept known as "one country, two systems". Effectively, this means that Hong Kong is organised separately from the Motherland except at the highest levels. In a way, this is quite like how e.g. the Netherlands runs its remaining colonies in the West Indies, with as notable exceptions that the people of Hong Kong cannot vote for their own government and that Hong Kong cannot secede.

Essentially, the current government has nobody's mandate, and that limits its opportunities to reform the status quo. And the status quo has some important disadvantages if Hong Kong wants to fullfil its potential to be a truly world class city, the author argues.

You can also read it as a case study of the hopefully transitional phase of a prosperous Asian society trying to develop democracy as a system that matches its middle class demography. ( )