China Seminar | 9 October 1997

Watching Hong Kong Through China's Eyes

Linda Chong

The monitoring of events in Hong Kong continues, if not exceeds, the pace and urgency of the watch prior to the historic change of status on July 1, 1997. How will “one country, two systems” work? Is “a high degree of autonomy” real in fact and in name? What indications have the first three months of “fifty years of no change” shown by way of stability and change? Please join us for a report by Linda Po-yin Chong, who witnessed the change-over of sovereignty in Hong Kong as a correspondent for United Press International.

A political science and journalism graduate of the University of Southern California, Linda Chong left her journalism work in Florida in 1993 to become a foreign correspondent in Asia. Based in Hong Kong, where she works for United Press International, Linda has done short stints in the major capitals of East and Southeast Asia. She writes on a wide range of subjects as a correspondent of Hong Kong and South China news features and business trends. Ms. Chong speaks Cantonese, Mandarin, Spanish and “some” Thai, and is a much traveled professional. This year she competed successfully for The Freedom Forum (formerly Gannett) Asia Fellowships at the University of Hawaii, with special attention to the culture and politics of Southwestern China and its environs.