The Year 2017

About the Book

The Year 2017 is a fascinating story folded into an informative perspective on Asia. Everyone must understand where they have been before it is possible to know where they are going. The book blends together the history and culture of the past with the opportunities and challenges for the future. There is a constant weaving of yesterday and tomorrow, good news with bad news.

Jack Jamieson, a journalist on his final assignment following a thirty-five year career as a correspondent for an international paper, arrives in Hong Kong on a sultry and polluted June evening in the year 2017. The economic prosperity of China presents extraordinary environmental problems for countries in the region which are downwind or downstream from China's 1.6 billion people.

Jamieson is joined by Libby Li, a young Chinese freelance writer whose beauty and charm provide access to the world's leaders. Together they cover the Global Environmental Summit in Hong Kong, civilian unrest as a result of severe drought conditions in northeast China, an armed conflict between Chinese and Korean troops, the leak of top secret U.S. military satellite photographs, the humanitarian shipment of water to victims of the drought and the death of a Korean diplomat. The interrelationship of these events opens the door to the past, present and futurre of Hong Kong and Asia.

About the Author

Randy Harris held the position of President of Merrill Lynch Japan from 1987-1993, and lived in Hong Kong from 1992-1995 while serving as Vice Chairman of Merrill Lynch International with responsibility for its China business. He currently serves on the board of several international organizations. Mr. Harris is a lawyer and received an undergraduate degree in International Political Science from Grinnell College. He resides with his family in Honolulu, Hawaii.