In less than 365 days, Hong Kong will revert to mainland China, becoming a "special administrative zone" under the control of Beijing. Since the Sino-British Joint Declaration was signed in the middle of 1984, Hong Kong has gone from being the sparkling "pearl of the orient"--a model of free-market economy for East Asia--to being one of the focal points of world media attention with a future far from certain. The slightest shift in current events elicits feelings of insecurity in the people of Hong Kong, and concern from people all over the world.

In the last ten or more years, nearly all the people who have the means, as well as most large corporations, have found a way to gain some guarantee of security, but most of the ordinary people can only keep on doing their business and live their everyday lives. As Hong Kong's economy seems more impressive than ever, the prices of goods and real estate have risen several times over, and the Renminbi and Mandarin-speakers have both become increasingly commonplace, yet in fact one can detect few genuine changes. Nevertheless, 1997 hangs like a dark cloud over everyone's hearts.

An intellectual of considerable learning who came from Hong Kong and settled a number of years ago in the United States was asked her feelings about Hong Kong's being "given back." She pondered the question for a while and then hesitantly replied, "How should I say it? Hong Kong's being apportioned off to England was a humiliation to our race. But it's better to be ruled by Britain than by 'China.'" This single comment seems to encapsulate the historical complex and hardships suffered by the Chinese people over the last 150 years.

After mainland China was lost to the Communist, one person was said to have started off walking toward Hong Kong (the New Territories). When he had walked to the point of utter exhaustion, he exclaimed, "Why couldn't the Qing dynasty have been a bit more rotten at the outset, and carved off a bit more land to give to England? That way I wouldn't have to walk as far, and I could get there quicker!" This story sounds like a joke, but upon reflection, it leads to tears and sorrow.

The modern history of China is hard to bear. Starting with the Opium Wars, China was startled awake by the guns and cannons of the West, but it entered into a nightmare of ceding land and paying reparations. China was forced to sign the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842, ceding Hong Kong Island to Britain. In 1860, it signed the Treaty of Peking, ceding part of Kowloon. After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894, the situation worsened: Taiwan was ceded to Japan. Owing to the intercession of Germany, France and Russia, Japan was prevented from annexing the Liaodong Peninsula. But then China was forced to express its gratitude to the great powers, and as a result it was divided among the colonialists. Russia came to control Manchuria, and Germany gained as a concession the Jiaozhou Gulf in the Yellow Sea. England leased Weihaiwei in Shandong, gained the Kowloon Peninsula for 99 years, and also carved out the Yangtze River Valley as its sphere of influence. France gained Guangzhou Bay as its concession, and carved out Guangdong, Guangxi and Yunnan as its realm of control. Japan followed suit, carving out Fujian as its sphere of influence. Therefore, all the best harbors of China were occupied by foreign powers. In actuality, almost all the provinces were divided among them. Fortunately, the United States came too late. They set as their goal the benefit of trade from all of China, which was consistent with the real designs of Britain. Therefore, in 1898, the USA promulgated the Open Door policy, suggesting China's autonomy and land be maintained, and that every nation had equal commercial opportunities in China. Only then was China preserved from being carved into pieces. Otherwise, today we would not even have the chance to talk about unification or independence or autonomy of nationality. One hundred years ago, China would have been unrecognizably fragmented.

It is less than a year before Hong Kong returns to China on July 1, 1997. What is sad is that even though they understand the suffering that their nation has experienced over the last century, most of the people of Hong Kong feel no joy at the prospect of returning to "the motherland." The people of Taiwan should have deeper concern than others, yet because the people of Hong Kong and Kowloon are closer to mainland China and have intentionally maintained a distance from Taiwan, the two groups have never had a strong sense of affinity; nevertheless, they feel a bond of close interdependency. Today, Taiwan also is full of worries for Hong Kong's future, especially in recent years, along with increasingly open exchanges between Taiwan and mainland China. Mainland-bound businessmen and people visiting mainland relatives all transit in Hong Kong, and cargo transhipment takes place in the "Fragrant Harbor" as well. Hong Kong has quite a large influence on Taiwan's economy and trade. At the moment, as Britain's union jack is about to be lowered from Hong Kong's flagpoles and the territory prepares to become a special administrative zone of mainland China, are Taiwan's cross-strait businesses well prepared? How will Hong Kong's businessmen respond? These "children of China," with the same culture and origin, finding themselves victims of a practical joke of time, have each struggled to open up a new world for themselves. What impact will July of 1997 have on Taiwan? What changes will transpire? In this issue, we hope to look into these questions with our readers.