No shelter

Hong Kong Chief Secretary Donald Tsang was unpacking in his Washington hotel room when he heard a thunderous explosion and looked out the window to see black smoke rising from the Pentagon. It was, of course, the third terrorist plane, two others having already slammed into the World Trade Center. America was under siege. The day before, Tsang had draped a New York ferry with a banner advertising Hong Kong's attractions; within hours, that vessel would be carrying away the city's dead and injured.

Somehow, though, the Chief Secretary was able to keep most of his appointmentsmeetings that...