Hong Kong
Brief History
From 1841 to 1997 (excluding the intermission of Japanese occupation), Hong Kong was under British administration owing to China’s defeat in the Opium War. This was the direct result of the Treaty of Nanking, which ceded Hong Kong to Britain as a colony. On 1 July 1997, the sovereignty over Hong Kong was returned back to China.
One Country
Hong Kong is part of China just like other former colonies such as Taiwan and Macau. However, Hongkongers, Taiwanese and Macanese people often don’t introduce themselves as ‘Chinese’ because of vast cultural and language differences (e.g. Hongkongers and Macanese people speak Cantonese, while Taiwanese speak Taiwanese Hokkien in addition to Mandarin).
Two Systems
Under the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ principle mandated by Deng Xiaoping, the former leader of People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong is allowed to keep its already established political and economic systems. Therefore, while Hong Kong is ultimately under the jurisdiction of the Communist Party of China, it is able to exercise great autonomy in self-governing. This agreement will however end 50 years after Hong Kong’s return to China in 2047.
Currency
China’s currency is Renminbi (RMB) while Hong Kong’s currency is Hong Kong Dollars (HKD). These two currencies are not interchangeable, and while stores in both regions may accept both currencies, there will be conversion differences (e.g. 120 HKD for 100 RMB).
Language
The majority of Hongkongers speak Cantonese as their mother tongue. At school, students are also required to study English and Mandarin. In China, different regions have their own dialects, but Mandarin is the official language. Also, one major difference in language is that Hongkongers (as well as Taiwanese and Macanese) write in traditional Chinese characters, while the rest of China writes in simplified Chinese characters. For example, love is written as 愛 in traditional character, and 爱 in simplified character.
Gwóngdūng Wah / gwong2 dung1 waa6 (Cantonese)
written in traditional Chinese (left) and simplified Chinese (right) characters
Social Media and Culture
In Hong Kong, social media is heavily influenced by the West. Popular platforms include Facebook, Google, Instagram and Twitter. In China, all of these platforms are banned. Instead, people use local social media platforms such as QQ, Weibo and WeChat.
Conflicts
In recent years there has been much antagonism between Hong Kong and China. This can be attributed to some of the following:
Traders
Since 2012, there has been a drastic increase of mainland traders who import goods into China from Hong Kong. This has caused inflation as well as local shortages in products such as babymilk powder and diapers.
Housing Inflation
Since 2007, Hong Kong’s housing price has risen 154% in part owing to Mainland Chinese investors, rendering private housing unaffordable to many.
Education
In recent years, the Chinese government has attempted to impose a revised Chinese History curriculum in Hong Kong. This resulted in great protests amongst educators who refuse to teach these proposed ‘moral and national education’ classes, which they believe will brain wash students.
Universal Suffrage
The biggest and most controversial topic to date: In response to the proposed amendment of Hong Kong’s electoral system in which the Chinese Communist Party will pre-screen Hong Kong Chief Executive candidates before presenting them to the electorate, thousands of Hongkongers participated in what became widely known as the Umbrella Revolution. This event is the culminating landmark of the Hong Kong-Mainland conflict.
Personal comments from Christie Lau (author of the above material and resident of Hong Kong):
“I am often torn between my identity as a Hongkonger and a Chinese (Hongkongers are technically Chinese, but you get my point). While I relate more to the culture of Hong Kong, I greatly appreciate and feel proud of my Chinese heritage. Yet at the same time, having been raised in a fully democratic city, I find upsetting how the Chinese government has been trying to infringe on the freedoms I take for granted. However, unlike the fervent Chinese-government-hating young generation in Hong Kong, I see the value of the relationship between these two regions. Not only is China vital to Hong Kong’s economy, much of our culture is also rooted in Chinese tradition. Despite the many warranted antagonisms between Hong Kong and China, I believe Hong Kong should not strive to become independent, but I also hope that the Chinese government will be more tactful in handling its relationship with its special administrative regions.”
Further information:
To be clear; Hong Kong is not a separate country. It is a state under the governance of China since 1997 but its history as a British colony has created a rift between their cultures.
There is much to pray about in China itself; the communist government silences people who speak out against them (torturing and imprisoning lawyers without trial: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/22/world/asia/china-missing-rights-defenders.html?_r=0 ) and strongly censors information in all sectors.
China also faces the problems of a rapidly industrialised country; working standards can be dangerous and quality control on a wide range of products is lacking.
The education system in Hong Kong is extremely competitive and has been blamed for suicide rates in students due to extreme academic pressure.
Umbrella revolution
The balance of political power between the governments in Beijing and Hong Kong under the ‘one country, two systems’ policy would always be weighted towards the larger party. In September 2017 a protest movement for greater autonomy for Hong Kong residents called ‘Occupy Central with Love and Peace’ was denounced by the police as an illegal activity such that police forces in full riot gear with tear gas were brought out to try and disperse the crowds. This went on for several weeks and the high tensions and unrest made violence inevitable, as reported in international news. There was criticism that this movement was incited by the US in an initiative to usurp the communist government in China and make way for democracy (and there is some evidence supporting this http://orientalreview.org/2014/10/03/the-umbrella-revolution-and-secessionist-political-contagion-in-china-i/ )
This is part of a larger tension between the residents of Hong Kong and the ‘mainlanders’;
As Christie mentions in her article above the rich businessmen who found success through China’s industrialisation (some by means of corruption, others by the cheap man-labour of thousands of hard-working Chinese citizens, yet others from finding connections with large global organisations that now produce the majority of their merchandise in China) have been a large reason behind inflation of house prices in Hong Kong. Influx of trade from the mainland on specific products like baby milk and diapers has created shortage of these items in Hong Kong. So there is some reason behind the blame of financial hardship for residents of Hong Kong upon people they see as outsiders.
Probably the largest cause of tension is the difference between the cultures; Hong Kong has been westernised by its long period as a British colony and particularly general opinion around politeness is in contrast to society in China which has to face the problems of being the world’s largest population; when food is scarce and hard work is a necessity the mannerisms of polite western society are completely foreign.
This is an ongoing issue;
The ‘Fish-Ball’ revolution around Chinese New Year (early February 2016) saw over fifty people arrested and more injured in a reaction to police shutting down illegal street-sellers ( http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1910845/shots-fired-and-bricks-thrown-hong-kong-tense-after-mong ). This was a particularly violent event.
Pray for:
Charities working against persecution and unjust torturing in China
Better working conditions and quality control in industrial businesses and awareness in Britain and the US of the effect we have in places across the world by demanding cheaper and cheaper products.
The relationship between citizens of Hong Kong and China; that they would not see each other as enemies.
That the younger generation in Hong Kong would find a more peaceful way to voice their unrest and the government would provide other ways to settle these disputes.
Wisdom for the leaders of Hong Kong’s education system; that they would know when they’re feeding Chinese propaganda and also how to fight against the extreme academic pressure and actively engage in ways to help students who are considering suicide.
Just Love Durham 