Have you been following the amazing news about Edward Snowden, the ex-CIA analyst who has blown the whistle on the US government’s widespread monitoring of personal phone-calls? He could have sought refuge anywhere in the world and where has he chosen to hide out? Hong Kong.

It’s a brilliant move. Hong Kong is part of China, a nation inexorably on the rise towards superpower mantle. No one wants to be on the wrong side of China at the moment, especially not the United States. So Snowden is going to be hard to get at. And under the one-country two-systems formula, Hong Kong’s free press and rule of law, provide Snowden with both the platform and protection he needs.

Every day this week, fed by Snowden, the South China Morning Post has come out with new revelations. The latest one is of how the United States has been carrying out its own cyber-spying campaign in Hong Kong, targeting, among others, the Chinese University of Hong Kong internet exchange through which most web traffic in the city passes. And so we now have the remarkable sight democratically elected Hong Kong LegCo members questioning what the US has been up to.

With the Snowden Incident, then, we are witnessing the real value of Hong Kong to China. Through Hong Kong’s one-country two systems formula, China is at last able to take the moral high ground with the United States. Hong Kong's free system has enabled China, to turn from accused into accuser.

Ten years I’ve lived in Hong Kong. This is certainly a proud moment and worthy of my first attempt at a blog.