HK: China puts money where Britain's mouth is

SIXTEEN months ago, Hugo Swire, the UK's Minister of State for Asia, wrote an article calling for the people of Hong Kong to be given a genuine choice in the 2017 chief executive election and offering British support. He was immediately criticised by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

The British government, it seemed, was willing to stand up to China and demand genuine democracy for its former colony. But that, it turns out, was just a passing fancy.

Last week, the same Mr Swire made a U-turn and asked Hong Kong's democrats to accept China's offer of an election system which he admitted was not "proper democracy".

What happened in those 16 months?

Plenty. When Mr Swire wrote his essay, his boss, Prime Minister David Cameron, was in the doghouse. He had met the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual l…