{"id":18112,"date":"2018-06-14T09:08:42","date_gmt":"2018-06-14T16:08:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=18112"},"modified":"2018-06-14T09:08:42","modified_gmt":"2018-06-14T16:08:42","slug":"when-the-sun-set-on-the-british-empire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/when-the-sun-set-on-the-british-empire\/","title":{"rendered":"When the Sun Set on the British Empire"},"content":{"rendered":"

When we moved to Kenya, we spent our first twelve months learning the language and culture of the people we were living among. There were no language schools, and very few books about Turkana, but we read what we could find. We hired a language helper to guide us in learner-directed language acquisition. During that year, we tried to do<\/em> very little except begin to grasp an understanding of our new neighbors. In local terms, we were learning extispicy\u2014the practice of reading goat entrails for the purpose of understanding the local context. In scriptural terms, we were exegeting the place. It was with that posture, one of being humble learners, that we gained the respect of our neighbors, the elders, and the church leaders. To this day, most Turkana still speak very highly of us because of that posture and our respect for them.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>It comes as no surprise, however, that those in power in Hong Kong\u2014especially the colonial authorities\u2014 did not approach their role in that way. To be honest, I grow weary of hearing tales of past and present where outsiders come in to a place, assert their authority, and don\u2019t take time to learn about the people they now oversee. When the final British governor of Hong Kong was appointed, Chris Patten, the Chinese government \u201cwondered whether the new man\u2014who had no understanding of Chinese thinking and was probably primarily concerned with British interests\u201d would help or hinder a smooth transition of Hong Kong back to Chinese oversight.[1]<\/a> Patten and the British did not approach the transition process with a posture of respect for Chinese ways. Unlike his predecessor, Patten did not visit Beijing before publicly announcing his political proposals. This led the Chinese to assume that the Brits understood that the proposals were resolved. The Chinese \u201cconsidered it at best a deliberate affront and at worst a sly move to undermine Chinese sovereignty.\u201d[2]<\/a> There were many assumptions and \u201cinaccurate assessments\u201d on the part of the Chinese, because the British did not approach the process in a way that recognized Chinese relationship styles.<\/p>\n

These misunderstandings then, by the Chinese, led the British to \u201cclose ranks\u201d and double down on their proposals in order to not lose \u201ccredibility and authority.\u201d [3]<\/a> Thus, the back and forth of misinterpretations and hardline tactics preceded the turnover of Hong Kong. The final institutional structure prepared for Hong Kong, what the Chinese called the \u201cnew kitchen\u201d was shaped largely without any British input.[4]<\/a> And throughout this entire process, the people of Hong Kong themselves were left out of the conversation.<\/p>\n

And yet. As the balance of power shifted from the global colonial dominance of Britain\"\"<\/a> to the reprising stature of China, both entities celebrated the smooth transfer. The people of Hong Kong were\u2014and are\u2014a vibrant blend of East and West, materially successful, and a jewel of achievement and pride in the Chinese crown. But I wonder if the people\u2019s participation in shaping their place might have made a difference in what the region looks like.<\/p>\n

I wonder what Hong Kong would look like today if the British had appointed a governor who knew the culture and language of the Chinese (or was willing to learn), who understood the context of Hong Kong. I wonder if a posture of respect and listening by the colonial rulers might have diminished the mistrust of the Chinese. I wonder if a willingness to be shaped and influenced by those he was leading might have given Patten a legacy of honor in the remembrance of this transition process. Patten (and the colonial government) would have benefitted from Robert Quinn\u2019s challenge that deep change requires that we \u201csurrender control as it is normally understood\u2026. We join with others in relationships of trust.\u201d Visionary leaders \u201care not acting upon people\u2014they are acting with them.\u201d[5]<\/a> It is both this collaborative learning and the willingness to lead by learning and humility that mark a leader that people want to follow.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Steve Tsang, A Modern History of Hong Kong<\/em>, (New York: I.B. Tauris, 2007), 257.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Ibid., 258.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Ibid., 260.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Ibid., 267.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Robert E. Quinn, Deep Change Field Guide,<\/em> (San Francisco: Josey-Bass, 2012), 9.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When we moved to Kenya, we spent our first twelve months learning the language and culture of the people we were living among. There were no language schools, and very few books about Turkana, but we read what we could find. We hired a language helper to guide us in learner-directed language acquisition. During that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":85,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1300,1260,920],"class_list":["post-18112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-colonialism","tag-tsang","tag-turkana","cohort-lgp7"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/85"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18112"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18113,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18112\/revisions\/18113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}