THERE was a time, a time not too long ago, when Hong Kong was regarded as the outpost of the West on China’s door-step. And then, a little over 26 years ago, the stranglehold of the colonial masters – Great Britain – over Hong Kong came to an eventual end when the territory was handed over back to its rightful owners, the Peoples Republic of China. Under Hong Kong’s semi-autonomous rule, the Western interests gradually dissipated. Reports of the so-called “Hong Kong’s fall from grace” have become a constant in the Western mainstream media. At the heart of the negative…