The Hong Kong model
Anson Chan outlined her hopes for her country on Thursday during remarks that included both harsh criticisms of China and what she called its “potential to be a force for tremendous good in the world.” Chan, the former chief secretary for administration for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, delivered the Rama S. Mehta Lecture at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Chan, who earned the moniker “Iron Lady” of East Asia during her government tenure, has long been a champion of democracy and gender equality. (She was one of the first two women to join the Hong Kong civil service in 1962.) During her talk, she criticized a number of China’s programs and policies, including its 1979 one-child procreation policy, an initiative she said fostered the country’s “deep-seated prejudice for male children,” and led to “a dangerous gender imbalance.” “My first hope,” said Chan, “is that all Chinese women and girls will...