Political Conflicts in Post-1997 Hong Kong

Subject Implications of the 2016 Legislative Council election. Significance A new generation of political activists, who gained international attention for leading massive pro-democracy demonstrations in 2014, have secured seats in the Hong Kong's Legislative Council (LegCo), the territory's law-making body, in the first electoral contest after the protests. Voting on September 4 for all 70 LegCo seats returned a pro-government ('establishment') majority, but older democracy activists ('pan-democrats') combined with the protest leaders ('localists' or 'radicals') have won enough seats to retain a veto over government-backed legislation. Impacts Experienced pan-democrats will court younger activists, who successfully capitalised on the high level of anti-China sentiment. Opposition veto power will ensure legislative gridlock on controversial issues. Beijing will be tempted to back a challenger to Leung in 2017 as a conciliatory gesture to the opposition. Beijing will also try to sideline independence activists through 'loyalty tests' and other means to de-legitimise the movement. The movement demanding full autonomy for Hong Kong will grow, but remain outside the mainstream business and stability-focused electorate.

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Economic and political future of Hong Kong

Финансы и управление ◽

10.25136/2409-7802.2020.2.33443 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 21-30

Author(s):

Nikita Sergeevich Stepanov

Keyword(s):

Hong Kong ◽

The United States ◽

Economic Sector ◽

Successful Development ◽

Strategic Development ◽

Political Conflicts ◽

Current State ◽

The Status ◽

Logical Modeling ◽

The Subject

Relevance of this article is substantiated by series changes in the world's largest economy, related to the special status of Hong Kong, which is rapidly losing its autonomy and privileges associated with it. The goal consists in outlining potential prospects and restrictions pertaining to economic and political future of Hong Kong. The subject of this research is the peculiarities, trends and patterns of Hong Kong’s development in the economic and political spheres. Examination of the development of Hong Kong and the factors impacting these processes was conducted by means of structural approach, methods of logical, comparative and statistical analysis, grouping, abstract-logical modeling, etc. The conducted research of modern trends and patterns allowed determining the key problems that may negatively affect successful development of Hong Kong in the nearest future: China’s encroachment on the special status of Hong Kong, reflected in the adoption of in 2019; possible sanctions from the United States, threatening to deprive Hong Kong of the status of world’s top financial hub; protests of Hong Kong’s residents; effects of the Coronavirus pandemic in the economic sector. The acquired results may be applied in formation of Hong Kong’s strategic development vectors, considering current conditions of political conflicts, as well as crisis trends related to Coronavirus pandemic. The scientific novelty lies in identification of the problems of current state of Hong Kong, as well as in formulation of possible solutions for balancing the crisis trends. The author believes that there could be several scenarios of events. Full abolition of the special status of Hong Kong seems less realistic, as it would suppress the attempts to establish relations based on the principle “one state – two systems”.

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Political Conflicts and Insecurities – the 2019 Hong Kong Social Unrest

10.20935/al2506 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Tzu Wei Luk

Keyword(s):

Hong Kong ◽

Social Unrest ◽

Political Conflicts

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Inter-Group Relations and Support for Democratization: Evidence from Hong Kong

10.31235/osf.io/d8sg4 ◽

2022 ◽

Author(s):

Tak Huen Chau ◽

Junyan Jiang

Keyword(s):

Hong Kong ◽

University Students ◽

Experimental Studies ◽

Observational Evidence ◽

Group Relations ◽

Mainland Chinese ◽

Political Conflicts ◽

Ordinary Citizens

What drives ordinary citizens to participate in costly pro-democracy endeavors? Conventional theories of democratization emphasize the economic or political conflicts between citizens and elites. This article suggests a different mechanism of mobilization based on inter-group relations. We argue that as a pro-majoritarian institution, democracy may be sought after by members of a disenfranchised majority as a way to protect their interests and identity against perceived economic or political threats posed by certain minority outgroups. We evaluate this argument by drawing evidence from Hong Kong, a city that has recently witnessed major waves of pro-democracy uprisings. Two experimental studies on local university students reveal that subjects' attitudes toward the mainland Chinese visitors and immigrants are causally related to their support for democratization. Observational evidence from surveys and elections further shows that pro-democracy attitudes are stronger in areas that recently experienced a large influx of mainland Chinese. These findings underscore the powerful role of group-based sentiments in episodes of democratization.

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