Anson Chan and the Promise of the Basic Law

Last Tuesday, I received an email notification that Anson Chan was coming to UBC. The inner politics geek inside me started getting all pumped up and excited. She is one of the most powerful women not only in Hong Kong but also in Asia. For people like me who study these kinds of things (or at least try to study), she is one of those superstars you can only meet regularly if you have high level access to power or people with power.

On my way to the talk, I did not know what to expect. She surprised me in many ways. Her talk was candid and honest. Many of her opinions I agree with. We were advised to follow Chatham House Rules, which I will adhere to. I have no idea if I can even mention what she talked about but of course it would be about Hong Kong and what the future holds with the status of the Basic Law. Gah! This is killing me, as I usually spout things off-the-cuff (i.e. the other name for this blog).

Anson Chan giving a talk at UBC.

The whole time she was speaking, she exuded this air of intelligence, grace, frankness, and honesty that you rarely see in somebody in politics. I must say it was an interesting talk, illuminating and informative to say the least. The photo is very bad since I came a bit late and all the good seats were already taken. I wanted to move around but it didn't seem appropriate at the time. It doesn't do justice to her presence. On the other hand though, I can see how some people can be critical of her and her ways. She seemed firm on everything she said. Many have said that she is akin to Margaret Thatcher.

Oh thank God for Wikipedia. I don't need to explain a lot of these things. As usual though, don't take everything as is while reading the entries. Anyway, let's see if this blog gets blocked in China. Woot! My last one did and my only reference to China was because I was studying economic reform and transition.