Patten Says World's Trust In Beijing Is At Stake

Hong Kong's last colonial governor, Chris Patten, has warned that Beijing is putting its international reputation on the line by failing to live up to its commitments to the SAR.

In an article for the Guardian, Patten also called on the governments of western nations, especially Britain, to put pressure on the administration in Hong Kong to pull back from its proposal to allow extradition to any jurisdiction, including the mainland.

"As the former sovereign power, Britain has a debt of honour to Hong Kong," he wrote. "I hope that does not sound too old-fashioned a concept these days."

He warned that a failure to put the bill on hold and seek further public consultation would undermine Hongkongers' faith in the SAR's institution, and put at risk its reputation as an international financial centre.

He also urged Beijing to consider why a pro-independence movement had emerged in Hong Kong since the handover, though he stressed that the idea of independence was one that he had "always criticised".

"For China, what is at stake is whether in future the rest of the world will be able to trust it to keep its word," he wrote. "If it breaks its commitment to Hong Kong, where else can it be trusted?

"Sometimes it is difficult to avoid the rather gloomy thought that we are seeing the emergence of a superpower that does not believe in individual human rights. So much for the China dream."