The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 4 letter word HONG KONG
H
O
N
G
K
O
N
G
More clues leading to the result HONG KONG
- Pole and Greek performing in corner where Victoria is
- Land within Berkshire maybe no good — put out information finally
- Precious decoration adorning king in trading centre
- Sweetheart’s constant, trapped by honour in former dependency
- Decisive blow by the new government behind the Chinese warehouse in the former Crown colony
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "former Crown colony" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case former crown colony = hong kong.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.