Few public officials here talk as Mike Rowse does -- a rat-a-tat-tat of jokes, stories and epithets delivered in a workaday accent worlds away from the pukka tones of a classic British colonial.
When Britain returned Hong Kong to China in 1997, about 100 British civil servants stayed behind, blending into this increasingly Chinese society with varying success. Rowse's populist style played well, and he has become one of the most senior British officials.
But he has gone a giant step further in cozying up to the locals: four months ago, he renounced his British citizenship to become a Chinese national. The decision, he said, was driven in part by his new post as director general of Hong Kong's investment promotion agency, Invest HK. "I'm a salesman for Hong Kong," said Rowse, 52, who came here in 1972 as a backpacker. "I thought: `I want to travel on a Hong Kong passport. I want to show that I bought the product myself.'"
Rowse cannot speak, read or write Chinese. He cheers for the Manchester United soccer team. And he parries a question about his loyalty toward the communist government, saying, "That's a private matter."
But on the subject of his adopted city, he preaches with the zeal of a true believer. Not only does he think that Hong Kong is the best destination in Asia for foreign companies and investors, he believes its role will grow after China joins the World Trade Organization this month.
Rowse notes that the number of foreign companies that have established regional offices in Hong Kong has risen 30 percent the last two years, to 3,237. Of those, almost one-third, or 944, use Hong Kong as their Asian headquarters, putting it comfortably ahead of rivals like Shanghai and Singapore.
"The increase is not because I'm tall, slim and incredibly good-looking," said Rowse, who is none of the above. "It's because they are saying, `China is going to be in the WTO, we want to be in China, where are we going to do it from?' Overwhelmingly, the answer is Hong Kong."
To skeptics, the statistics merely indicate that the city is in its last cycle as a middleman for China and the world. After Deng Xiaoping opened China's economy in 1978, Hong Kong became an entrepot for goods moving in and out of the country. In recent years, it supplied bankers, lawyers and accountants to help foreigners make sense of the Chinese market.
As China pulls down its walls, many analysts say the foreign firms will no longer need this help. With Beijing subscribing to standard rules for trade and investment, they say these companies will be able to bypass Hong Kong and deal directly with cities throughout China.
Some see a remark made in 1999 by the prime minister of China, Zhu Rongji, as prophetic. In the future, Zhu said, Shanghai would be the New York of China while Hong Kong would be the Toronto.
"I think China's entry into the WTO will be more negative than positive for Hong Kong," said Marc Faber, a money manager who runs his own investment advisory firm. "As China becomes more of an open society, the whole of China will become more like Hong Kong. So the advantages of having an office there will diminish."
Faber also said the city would be handicapped by its costs, which are among the highest in Asia. After 28 years here, Faber moved last year to Chiang Mai, in Thailand, because it is so much cheaper.
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