Hong Kong probably does have better English then Japan certainly, but I'm not sure how much.

I think the Japanese issue is partially cultural, but mostly that because everyone has some sort of education in English so everyone recognizes enough of English to get the general gist of some statements, but not enough to understand all the meanings or nuances. I've found that the best way to take a cheesy animated film seriously is to watch it when it's dubbed into a foreign language you only barely understand - you'll get the point without the scenery chewing. So my suspicion is that when China (like Taiwan) starts to do more English, they'll end up with some of the same things.

I suspect the west has it to. We just can't read the Chinese characters that people put on goods and clothing...