Law School Blog
Friday in Hong Kong
Friday, October 20, 2006
It is hard for me to believe that today we visited our seventh law school during this trip. Professors Kang and Takenaka departed Taipei for Korea and Japan respectively. Each colleague has provided superb knowledge and assistance as we made this whirlwind ambassadorial tour. I thank them both for their contributions ever so sincerely.
Professor Taylor accompanied me to Hong Kong, a city-state like no other I have ever seen. Hong Kong is on the eastern side of the Pearl River Delta on the southeastern coast of the People's Republic of China. The city faces the South China Sea in the south, and borders Guangdong Province in the north. Because Hong Kong has one of the world's most liberal economies and is a major international center of finance and trade, it is China's richest region. Hong Kong has been a center of world commerce for more than 500 years. The city became a British colony in 1842 and remained that way until
1997 when sovereignty transferred to the PRC. The city continues to be governed as a special administrative region with a high degree of autonomy.
Under the "One Country, Two Systems" policy, HK retains its own legal system, currency, customs policy, cultural delegation, international sport teams, and immigration laws. China represents Hong Kong diplomatically and militarily.
With more than 7 million people, Hong Kong is one of the more bustling places I have ever been. The streets are filled with people at all times while the harbor is full of every type of boat imaginable, but mainly transportation vessels that cart goods of every kind and size around the world. As an old New Yorker, I thought that Manhattan Island was the greatest example of high-rise architecture. I may have to rethink that belief. Like Taipei and Seoul, Hong Kong is surrounded by mountains. By Seattle standards, the mountains in each of these three cities are smaller than the Cascades and Olympics, but all are so much closer to the cities.
The Nine Dragons of Hong Kong, as the mountains are sometimes called, have hundreds of skyscrapers built up to and into the hillsides. Trade and real estate are the predominant fields for lawyers here.
Arriving here early Friday afternoon from Taipei, I did not have enough time to take pictures before heading to the University of Hong Kong School of Law to meet with Dean Johannes M.M Chan and Professor Hua-Ling Fu, who visited with us at the UW last year. HKU has recently changed its educational model from a three year course of undergraduate study plus one year of bar preparation study, to a four year program with an additional year of study for the bar. The university also offers several joint degrees that take students six years to complete. Courses are taught in English and Chinese.
For me, one of the most interesting aspects of their program was their admissions policy. To diversify the student body, HKU accepts nearly one-half of their students from other nations around the world. As we believe in Seattle, the more voices and experiences, the richer the learning environment.
Thanks to Professors Fu and Taylor, our two schools will be working on a project during the next three years to provide a type of clinical legal education for HKU students. These students will provide legal assistance to the rural poor in two or three Chinese provinces. This aspect of clinical legal work and developmental assistance in rural China will continue to set our two schools apart from so many law schools. The program could be the first of several we might be able to develop over the coming years. I hope that you are as excited as I am about the possibilities.
I will spend Saturday being a tourist here. Even though we will all be back in Gates Hall on Monday, check the blog that day for a few pictures and final observations about the promise that awaits us throughout Asia. Enjoy your weekend and see you on Monday!
Dean Knight