Christopher Francis PATTEN (aka 彭定康) [1944- ]

Submitted by simtang on Wed, 11/01/2023 - 09:31
Names
Given
Christopher Francis
Family
Patten
Alias / nickname
彭定康
Sex
Male
Status
Living
Born
Date
Birthplace (town, state)
Cleveleys, Lancashire
Birthplace (country)
England

28th and last Governor of Hong Kong 1992-1997

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Patten

As Wikipedia notes, Patten's implementation of electoral reform in Hong Kong made him very unpopular with Chinese officials and the pro-Beijing media, who called him a variety of names in response: 千古罪人 / "sinner who would be condemned for a thousand generations", 三違反 / "triple violator", etc.

Among the Hong Kong public he was known by the friendlier nickname of 肥彭 / "Fat Pang".

Read more about Patten in ACB's History of HK:

Photos that show this Person

Comments

As the last governor of Hong Kong, he had to meet many Chinese officials to settle many things before the transition took place in 1997.  This is an excerpt from a Chinese web page about the origin of this "nickname" Google translated.

Note that Lu Ping was a Chinese official in charge of Hong Kong affairs.

Lu Ping's most familiar remarks to Hong Kong people were in 1992, when the last Hong Kong Governor Patten delivered his first policy address, he launched the "New Nine Groups" political reform plan, which significantly increased the number of directly elected seats in the Hong Kong Legislative Council, which attracted the attention of the Chinese government.  Lu Ping denounced Patten as an "eternal sinner" or 千古罪人 in Chinese.

https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/gangtai/ql2-05042015101556.html

Another source also mentioned "nicknames" even worse:

Variously described by CCP-backed media as a “sinner for a thousand years, prostitute, triple violator”

I think Patten himself mentioned "triple violator” in his own published diaries.

https://www.policymagazine.ca/pattens-hong-kong-diaries-an-engaging-str…

Simtang, please could you help tidy up the Alias / nickname:

  • delete "(according to philk)" - that is already clear in the comments
  • delete "fat pat", as it isn't a commonly used nickname in English

Thanks, David

It seems he likes egg tarts very much that he sent people to Tai Cheong Bakery at Lyndhurst terrace every week to buy egg tarts for him.

pattren egg tarts
pattren egg tarts, by simtang

In 1997, he introduced to his friend German Chancellor Kohl some good stuff

1997 patten egg tarts
1997 patten egg tarts, by simtang

I'm disturbed by the alias/nickname used on the original post. It is a label made by the Chinese side to smear the reputation of Chris Patten. To be honest, I lived through the years when he was Governor of Hong Kong, and I was in close contact with him almost on a daily basis, being a radio reporter with the political beat at the time. I also sometimes interviewed Lu Ping. Chris Patten was an honorable man looking out for the best interest of the Hong Kong citizens, trying to make a last-ditch effort to give back some power to the people. I'm not here to argue the historical consequences or political implications of what he did. But I just think that it is unfair to perpetuate that smear campaign by using this label here. Chris Patten was loved by the masses during his governorship and there's good reason for that. 

Having the labels 'thousand year sinner', etc. in the title doesn't sit well with me either. The title is what is shown in search results, and shows the labels without any context.

For this case we'll stick to the simple approach of the English name in the main name fields, and the Chinese name in the Alias. That is a good standard to follow for the other Governors too (https://gwulo.com/taxonomy/term/2024/people).

I've updated the title, and moved the other labels down to the notes.

A Hong Kong friend of mine stated that Chris Patten, or Pang Ding-Hong, or Fat Pang, used to send his chauffeur to the shop to get the emergency supplies of egg tarts.  I cannot confirm the truth of my friend's remarks.