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33.
Europe had little to offer - "God knows what goes on in
those parts" remarked the Arab world's (and Tunisia's)
greatest scholar, Ibn Khaldun.
34. For centuries China saw little to learn from the outside
world but Mao changed that. It was not Marxism that achieved
his revolution but a study of history, and he proved that the
Chinese are not an unique type of human. Lawrence said of the
Arab that he can be swung on an idea as on a cord". Did not
Mao, more than once, demonstrate that with one billion
Chinese? And the statistics for China's economic and social
growth show a degree of control and sophistication that is
remarkable.
The Last Squeal
35. The most difficult task in the Aden Protectorate was not
the endlessly warring tribes but answering the questions of
those young Arab friends who had studied British
constitutional history at the LSE or Brighton Tec and
enquired why the Britain of Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights
ran their country like a Mafia fiefdom in the Bronx. That
dilemma ran through the Empire and was resolved when we gave
freedom and the right for people to make their own mistakes.
36. As Macao was one of the first corners of the East to be
occupied by European powers, so will Hong Kong's return to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 mark a final phase of the British Empire, the greatest Empire the world has known and for all
its inconsistencies, the greatest force for good. Arrangements for the 1995 elections, soon to be settled by the
Legislative Council on the basis of proposals put by the Governor, are likely to be the last link to be joined in the
chain.
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