Letters to the Editor: Hong Kong was no paradise for Chinese people under British rule

To the editor: Kent Wong's Hong Kong was not a paradise. I lived there in the sixties. Hong Kong's chief executive is prescreened by Beijing today. But Hong Kong's governor under British rule was appointed by London. There were places in Hong Kong where Chinese were not allowed to go under British rule. Compare the police handling of riots under British rule versus those under Chinese rule in 2019 and you will find it is way more humane now.

Wong and others were very brave to swim to escape China. Hong Kong, despite not being democratic, was way superior than the mainland back then. But there is nobody who would swim from China to Hong Kong today. Many Chinese find cities like Shenzhen and Guangzhou to be better places to live than Hong Kong today.

I can understand Wong's anger toward China due to what happened to him and his family. But it is unfair to say that Hong Kong was a paradise under British rule and to equate Mao's China to today's China.

Shiu Man Lee, Camarillo

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To the editor: Years ago, as an international flight attendant, I travelled to Hong Kong frequently. We loved the people, the food and the shopping. The people were happy.

We were fearful of how things might change when the city was transferred from the freedom of British rule to Chinese Communism. Our fears have materialized. I often think about those lovely people who made our stays in Hong Kong so pleasant.

Regrettably, not so happy now.

Jo-Anne Collins, Fountain Valley

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.