A Death in Hong Kong: The MacLennan Case of 1980 and the Suppression of a Scandal

Winner of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong’s History Book Prize, 2017

In January 1980 a young police officer named John MacLennan committed suicide in his Ho Man Tin flat. His death came hours before he was to be arrested for committing homosexual acts still, at that point, illegal in Hong Kong. But this was more than the desperate act of a young man; both his death and the subsequent investigation were a smokescreen for a scandal that went to the heart of the establishment.

This second edition includes a foreword by Christine Loh (former undersecretary for the environment, former legislator, and founder of Civic Exchange) as well as updated information from new interviews with key people involved in the case. With endorsements from human rights researchers and the local community, this book provides insight into Hong Kong during a time of social unrest and corruption scandals, a time when homosexuality and paedophilia were often considered interchangeable and both offered easy targets for blackmail.