“China was the opposite world. If you want to know what Hong Kong would have looked like without the British, you only need to take a look across the border.” ChinaBritish EmpireHong KongChinese PoliticsBritish Hong Kong Author:Bruce Gilley
“Tony Blair had just been elected prime-minister and he and his foreign secretary, Robin Cook, were totally uninterested. In the pouring rain they were looking at the military parade from underneath their umbrella, for the transfer at midnight. Their entire attitude signalled something like: ‘’Can we go now?” ChinaColonialismBritish EmpireHong KongBritish ColonialismTony Blair Author:Bruce Gilley
“Asians are doing more to stay on the colonial track. They don’t say this out loud, but there is far less anti-colonial bombast than elsewhere. They admire the colonials. Go to the national museum in Singapore. “The British did this, the British did that”. All positive.” ColonialismBritish EmpireBritish ColonialismSignapore Author:Bruce Gilley
“The British colonial empire has done more to fight poverty than all post-war development aid combined.” ColonialismBritish EmpireBritish Colonialism Author:Bruce Gilley
“People had status as subjects of the colonial empire. Maybe not yet as citizens, with voting-rights, but certainly as subjects who were treated as equals by the institutions and the law. And that was an improvement. That is why the colonial justice system was constipated: people could suddenly go to the judge over a piece of land.” ColonialismImperialismBritish EmpireBruce GilleyColonial Empire Author:Bruce Gilley