That Scotland would reject independence in its referendum was predictable. But the intense interest in the vote among the Scottish people was clear; 97 percent registered to vote, and 84 percent cast ballots. Rejecting independence was a clear expression of the Scottish people's views.
I spent the weeks in the run-up to the Scottish referendum in China, where I saw some misunderstandings here of Scotland's vote
For clarity, and to explain personal bias, my name is Scottish, I am entitled to wear the "Ross" clan tartan, my father was a strong Scottish cultural nationalist, and I was personally brought up with a strong sense of Scottish culture.
Watching the debate on Scottish independence in China, some people expressed a misunderstanding that Scotland is in some sense equivalent to China's ethnic minorities.
This is a complete misunderstanding. Scotland was a strong independent state in the fullest sense for the great majority of its history, which even militarily was fully comparable to England.
Scotland possessed for almost a millennium its own military forces that England never finally conquered. Unification of the kingdoms of England and Scotland, in 1603, came about as a result of the Scottish king succeeding to the English throne when the then Scottish King James VI became also King James I of England.
The UK's creation in 1707 was by the Scottish parliament's vote for a united state. After union, Scotland retained its own separate legal system and educational system. Its banks have the right to issue separate pound notes, and it has separate churches and a distinct historical culture.
Even those who called for a "no" vote on independence, including Prime Minister David Cameron and leaders of all major UK political parties, recognized and stated that Scotland was historically a separate nation; this is why holding the referendum was supported by all major political parties not only in Scotland but also in the UK.
And this is why the referendum was a UK internal affair. China has rightly criticized those outside China who attempt to influence Hong Kong's form of government as interfering in its internal affairs. For the same reason, my view is that those outside the UK who expressed an opinion on what outcome they wanted in the Scottish referendum made a mistake in doing so.
Despite this distinct history, Scotland historically derived major benefits from being in a single state together with England. Why, therefore, even though the "yes" vote for independence failed, did independence supporters receive a vote as high as 45 percent?
In the recent past, opinion polls in Scotland showed support for independence was only just over 30 percent. Why, consequently, was support for independence much higher at this referendum? The reason is that in reality, "two" votes took place simultaneously, one expressing support for independence, and the other expressing opposition to the Conservative Party, which is the present UK government. This combination explained the high "yes" vote.
Supporters of "neo-liberal" economic policies in China have unfortunately created an entirely false impression that former prime minister Margaret Thatcher was popular in the UK. This is the reverse of the truth.
In 1955, the Conservatives received 49.7 percent of the vote in the UK, by Thatcher's last election in 1987 this fell to 42.2 percent, and in 2010 Cameron won only 36.1 percent.
In Scotland, dislike of the Conservatives, once that country's majority party, became hatred. In the 2010 election, the Conservatives had only one member of parliament in Scotland out of 59.
Thatcherite Tories were blamed for destroying Scotland's industry, privatizing national firms, and increasing inequality by weakening its social security system.
The Scottish National Party (SNP) rapidly increased support, when it transformed itself from a party narrowly supporting independence to one campaigning on wider social issues against the Conservatives.
Opposition to the Conservatives fed sentiment for separation as many voted "yes" simply to get rid of the Conservatives.
If Scotland had voted for independence, the chief person responsible would not have been SNP leader Alex Salmond, but Margaret Thatcher. If the Conservatives were not in power in Westminster, the support for independence would have been far lower.
It is, therefore, important to understand both that there is no comparison between Scotland and any region of China, but also that policies of the Thatcher type were immensely unpopular and increased sentiment for separation.
The author is a senior fellow with Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn. Follow him on Sina Weibo @JohnRoss431