Chris Patten, Lord Patten of Barnes was a top Tory politician, prime ministerial material, and Chairman of the Conservative Party in the UK who went on to be the 28th and last Governor of Hong Kong, from 1992 to 1997. His brief was to make the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to China smooth, but also to protect the rule of law and to safeguard democracy.
In the end the politics, as he puts it, were a snake pit.
His book, The Hong Kong Diaries, is a journal of his time there, including his thoughts on the situation today.
Photo: DANIEL LEAL
