Hong Kong and the surprising truth about the British Empire
From our UK edition
What would the world be like if the British Empire had never existed? Critics of British colonialism say that the countries that fell under its rule would have been better off without it; the Empire's supporters say it brought progress and prosperity in its wake. So who's right? The truth is hard to find. After all, one of the difficulties in assessing the legacy of British colonialism in many ex-colonies is the lack of a counterfactual. Put simply, we don't know what a place would be like if it hadn’t been colonised. But Hong Kong is a special case.
