The Gate to China

A New History of the People's Republic and Hong Kong

By: Michael Sheridan

Narrated by: Nigel Patterson

The rise of China and the fall of Hong Kong to authoritarian rule are told with unique insight in this new history by Michael Sheridan, drawing on documents from archives in China and the West, interviews with key figures, and eyewitness reporting over three decades.

The story takes the listener from the earliest days of trade through the Opium Wars of the 19th century to the age of globalization, the handover of Hong Kong from Britain to China, the fight for democracy on the city's streets, and the ultimate victory of the Chinese Communist Party.

As the West seeks a new China policy, we learn from private papers how Margaret Thatcher anguished over the fate of Hong Kong, sought secret American briefings on how to deal with Beijing, and put her trust in a spymaster who was tormented by his own doubts.

The Chinese version of history, so often unheard, emerges from memoirs and documents, many of them entirely new to the foreign listener, which reveal China's negotiating tactics. The voices of Hong Kong people - eloquent, smart, and bold - speak compellingly here at every turn.

©2021 Michael Sheridan (P)2022 Tantor

Thorough account of the handover

The title shines at providing the history of the Hong Kong handover from the Thatcher years to July 1, 1997. It does very well in illustrating the "psychological chasm" between the Chinese Communist Party, Hong Kongers, and British colonial officers, which explains much of the attitudes toward HK democracy on global display since 2019.

The narrator did a splendid job at communicating the subject with the gravitas it deserves.