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Jul 2022
51m 3s

Hong Kong: 25 years since the handover f...

Bbc World Service
About this episode

Stories from Hong Kong, 25 years on since the handover from British to Chinese rule. We hear from the last governor of Hong Kong, a pro democracy campaigner and about life in Kowloon Walled City.

(Photo: Chris Patten at the handover ceremony of Hong Kong from Britain to China. Credit: Getty Images)

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