Question for you: how do you rate that moral failure vs. the moral value of China's political system?
In other words, do you see non-democratic systems as moral failures? I don't have any specific point or advocacy to make here. Just wondering what your broader perspective is given exactly what you said.
I believe that they saw it as a huge win for themselves, what makes it even less appealing.
I do not think that a non-democratic system is automatically a moral failure, but it becomes one if they try to enforce it on others.
1. not to fight the Opium War and sell Opium in the first place. 2. not to invade other country on the other side of the world. 3. not to pretend to be a dominant power.
if you focus on the first two points, they seem to be morally right in ALL culture.
Then it was returned in the same fashion.
Ironically, the people who desired to return to their homeland, gradually lost their roots and become indifferent to the idea that Hong Kong is an integral part of China.
This theoretically is much harder to do due to the geographic situation, but it's not far from your reasoning.
For me it is another moral failure of the British.