Full of Eastern Promise - or not

I'm off to Hong Kong this week and as I haven't visited it for 15 years, I'll be interested to see how it's changed - epsecially the attitude of women - since it's return to Chinese control.

Even under British control, Hong Kong was a Far Eastern territory trying to become Westernised, except it never really worked - especially when it came to the sexes.

Hong Kong was always a male dominated country and when a quarter of Hong Kong women believe that they should not be more successful than their husbands, it's not something that's going to change in the short term.

Women are still paid lower rates than their male counterparts and are more likely to be in a clerical position than any other; a fifth still believe that they will get more respect from their friends if they bear their husband a son and 9% of women aged between 18 and 27 wish to have a sex change (for economical reasons no doubt). Since 1997, the suicide rate for women in Hong Kong has also doubled.

I still can't forgive Maggie for giving it all back (even the bits we didn't need to) and hope we got a really good deal in return, because I doubt the women of Hong Kong have.