Our history is not a blank page on which we can write our own version of what it should have been, according to our contemporary views and prejudices.

Chris Patten

Categorized in : Lifestyle

There is a sort of exotic preposterousness about a lot of elections, the way arguments are made even cruder.

exotic voting way

I believe in trying to get a balance between individual freedom on the one hand and social responsibility on the other.

responsibility believe hands

I think that what most surprises anybody who goes into politics from even a modestly cerebral background is the vulgarity of much of the cut and thrust of politics.

vulgarity-is cutting thinking

I suppose I've always carried what is regarded as a bit of unnecessary baggage in Britain. I've always carried the charge that I am an intellectual in politics.

unnecessary baggage intellectual

But the ability to articulate what you are doing, to be clear about it, and to stick to it is, I think, the essence of political leadership.

leadership inspiring thinking

You don't have to wait until people say they accept everything you say until you are actually prepared to sit down and discuss matters with them.

down-and waiting people

Throwing young men out of work, throwing people into poverty and ending business life don't promote stability in the Palestinian territories,.

territory men people

Multilateralism is not an easy option. We're going to find that the world is very difficult. And relationships between America and the rest of the world are very difficult.

easy america world

People have known exactly why there shouldn't be an extradition agreement with China for years, the argument that it's better to have an extradition treaty than to abduct people illegally from Hong Kong -- are people really supposed to believe that ?

I hope that even at this late stage the government will back off, it doesn't have to happen. It shouldn't happen and Hong Kong should carry on as a free society under the rule of law without having to worry about this extradition.

It's a proposal, or a set of proposals, which strike a terrible blow ... against the rule of law, against Hong Kong's stability and security, against Hong Kong's position as a great international trading hub.

An idea of law where there aren't any independent courts. Where the courts and the security services and the party's rule which are, sometimes, pretty obscure, are rolled altogether.

People have known exactly why there shouldn't be an extradition agreement with China for years, and many of the arguments put for the government's proposals don't actually pass the laugh-off-your-seat test.

Our cities are full of buildings that were built with the proceeds of activities, the slave trade and so on, which would nowadays be regarded as completely unacceptable.

China's exports to the United States went up by 1,600 percent in... by Chris Patten

China's exports to the United States went up by 1,600 percent in 15 years, So who need whom?.

It's fair to say for 10 years after 1997, maybe a bit longer, things did not go too badly wrong, but they've gone downhill since, partly because Xi Jinping and his colleagues are terrified of what Hong Kong actually stands for.

Xi Jinping hates the things which Hong Kong has been promised under the 'one country, two systems' treaty lodged at the United Nations which he is wilfully breaking, what he hopes he can do is to bash Hong Kong into shape.

We have long since passed the stage where, without wanting another Cold War, we have to react to the fact Xi seems to want one himself, seems to want to be able to bully his way to whatever he thinks China wants.

A lot of people will try to leave Hong Kong.

What does it mean? It means serious question marks not just about Hong Kong's future as a free society but also about Hong Kong's ability to continue as probably the premier international financial hub in Asia, a lot of people will try to leave Hong Kong.