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In Beijing’s Tightening Grip

Changing Mainland-Hong Kong Relations amid Integration and Confrontation

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Hong Kong 20 Years after the Handover

Part of the book series: Studies in the Political Economy of Public Policy ((PEPP))

Abstract

This chapter examines Beijing’s policy toward Hong Kong and the increasingly conflictual relations between the Mainland and Hong Kong in the midst of socioeconomic integration since 2012. This chapter first overviews the major features of Beijing’s strategy since the political crisis triggered by the protests against the national security legislation in 2003 and the changing socioeconomic links between the Mainland and Hong Kong. Then, it analyzes several key issues in this relationship since the rise of Xi Jinping as China’s paramount leader since late 2012, namely (1) Beijing’s new framework in governing Hong Kong, (2) the growing involvement of the Mainland in Hong Kong’s governance, (3) the rise of tensions between the two places arising from cross-boundary flows and (4) the politics over universal suffrage and the Occupy Central (OC) protests. This chapter concludes with some observations on the prospect of Hong Kong under “One Country, Two Systems” (OCTS).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Beijing here refers to the central authorities for the sake of simplicity. For my analysis of the relations between Hong Kong and the Mainland since 1997, see “Intergovernmental Relations between Mainland China and the Hong Kong SAR,” in Public Administration in Southeast Asia: Thailand, Philippines Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Macao, ed. Evan M. Berman (Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2011), pp. 255–281; Peter T.Y. Cheung, “The Changing Relations between Hong Kong and the Mainland since 2003,” in Contemporary Hong Kong Government and Politics, ed. Lam et al. (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2012), 325–348. For other important works, see, e.g. Sonny Siu-hing Lo, The Dynamics of Beijing-Hong Kong Relations (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2008).

  2. 2.

    See Zhang Xiaoming’s brief note in Shibada Baogao Fudao Duban [Guiding Book on the 18th National Party Congress’ Report] (Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2012), 339–340 and Yan Xiaojun, Xianggang Zhi Yu Luan: 2047 De Zhengzhi Xiangxiang [Hong Kong’s Governance and Chaos: The Political Imagination of 2047] (Hong Kong: Joint Publishing, 2015), 178.

  3. 3.

    PRC National Security Law, Art 40.

  4. 4.

    HKSAR Basic Law, Art 2 and 85.

  5. 5.

    Of respondents 27.4% identify themselves as Hong Konger in China, while 13% of identify themselves as Chinese in Hong Kong. For full result: https://www.hkupop.hku.hk/chinese/popexpress/ethnic/index.html

  6. 6.

    HKSAR Basic Law, Instrument 21.

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Acknowledgement:

I am grateful to the assistance provided by Kenneth Ho, Ray Poon, Kary Chan and especially James Chan for this chapter. All errors are my sole responsibility.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Peter T.Y. Cheung

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Correspondence to Peter T.Y. Cheung .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Academy of Hong Kong Studies, The Education University of Hong Kong, Tai Po, Hong Kong

    Brian C.H. Fong

  2. The Academy of Hong Kong Studies, The Education University of Hong Kong, Tai Po, Hong Kong

    Tai-Lok Lui

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Cheung, P.T. (2018). In Beijing’s Tightening Grip. In: Fong, B., Lui, TL. (eds) Hong Kong 20 Years after the Handover. Studies in the Political Economy of Public Policy. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51373-7_11

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