Crossed Paths: Labor Activism and Colonial Governance in Hong Kong, 1938–1958 by Lu Yan

Purpose This paper aims to uncover the trajectory of the anti-corruption effort of the Hong Kong colonial Government by identifying its general approach of denial in the pre-War years. It highlights the path-dependence nature, as well as the path-creation logic of the policy process of anti-corruption reform and the anxiety of the colonial administration in maintaining trust of the local population in the post-War years. These insights should enhance the general understanding of the nature of colonial governance. Design/methodology/approach This paper is primarily based on archival materials available at the British National Archives and Hong Kong Public Records Office. Findings The paper intends to go before the “Great Man narrative” in explaining the success of the anti-corruption effort in colonial Hong Kong. Whilst the colonial government was fully aware of the endemic of corruption and the substantial involvement of European officers, she was still cocooned with the misguided belief that the core of the administration was mostly “incorruptible”. The Air Raid Precaution Department scandal in 1941 was, however, a powerful wake-up that rendered the denial and self-illusion no longer defensible. The policy ideas of the 1940s did shape the Prevention of Corruption Ordinance 1948 and other related reforms, yet they were not immediately translated into fundamental changes in the institutional set-up of the anti-graft campaign. The limitations of these half-hearted measures were fully exposed in the coming decades. The cumulative effects of the piecemeal anti-graft efforts of the colonial government over the first century of rule, however, did path the way for the “revolutionary” changes in the 1970s under Murray MacLehose. Originality/value This is a highly original piece based on under-explored archival materials. The findings should have a major contribution to the scholarship on the nature of colonial governance and the history of anti-corruption efforts of Hong Kong.

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British Legal Culture and Colonial Governance: The Attack on Corruption in Hong Kong, 1968–1974

Britain and the World ◽

10.3366/brw.2012.0055 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 223-239 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Mark Hampton

Keyword(s):

Hong Kong ◽

Political Culture ◽

Cultural History ◽

Legal Culture ◽

Local History ◽

Local Context ◽

Folk Culture ◽

Archival Material ◽

Police Official ◽

Colonial Governance

This article examines the Hong Kong Government's vigorous attack on corruption in the late 1960s and early 1970s as an example of the transmission of British legal and political culture abroad. Previous studies of Hong Kong's anti-corruption efforts have understandably situated them in the context of local history, including both Chinese folk culture and the Hong Kong Government's need to rebuild legitimacy following major civil disturbances between 1966 and 1968. This article does not disagree with these emphases, but argues that the attack on corruption is equally a part of British cultural history. Drawing on newly-available archival material, this article shows that longstanding British antipathy to corruption provided political and legal values on which Hong Kong's Colonial officials drew when the local context made the tackling of corruption politically advantageous. At the same time, though, British legal culture was as much an obstacle as an inspiration to anti-corruption efforts. In particular, the Hong Kong Government's Prevention of Bribery Ordinance conflicted with British legal values concerning the rights of the accused, and the British Fugitive Offenders Act hindered London's ability to support the extradition of a notoriously corrupt police official, Peter Godber. This article thus underscores the clash between British legal values and the practical necessities of governing in Britain's last major colony.

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Linguistic Movements in Hong Kong: Linguistic Nationalism and Cultural Hegemony

European Journal of Economics Law and Politics ◽

10.19044/elp.v8no1a13 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Fung-Ming Hui

Keyword(s):

Hong Kong ◽

Cultural Hegemony ◽

British Colonial ◽

Colonial Governance

This paper focuses on exploring the Hong Kong‟s Linguistic Nationalism and localist linguistics movements, including First „Chinese‟ Movement from 1967 to 1970, Second „Chinese‟ Movement in 1978 in Hong Kong British- Colonial Governance and Anti-Putonghua, and Pro-Cantonese Movement from 2008 in HKSAR governance.

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