> Hong Kong was in British hands throughout last century and has an active memory of how things used to be before the handover.
This is the only bone I have to pick.
Hong Kong has a short memory of how things used to be. People around 30-40s won't remember a thing when the colonial overlords rule with an iron fist.
There's a reason why generally, there's a rift of opinion between the young people, and the older generation.
Because many of the older generations had even worse memories from PRC and the civil wars. Yes, the British ruled with an iron fist as well, for a large part. But livelihood was generally improving for most (which may or may not [entirely] be due to something that the British did) during the run-up to the handover.
This is the only bone I have to pick. Hong Kong has a short memory of how things used to be. People around 30-40s won't remember a thing when the colonial overlords rule with an iron fist.
There's a reason why generally, there's a rift of opinion between the young people, and the older generation.