The unrest in the Special Administrative Region (SAR) of Hong Kong, initially triggered by the Hong Kong government’s tabling of an extradition bill but now also over broader issues of governance, is of significant interest and resonance for Singaporeans. Hong Kong is an Asian financial powerhouse and a vital link to China's market for international firms. The cosmopolitan city with a frenetic pace of work and life is also an attractive destination for dynamic Singaporean professionals on the move. There is a sense of affinity between people of the two cities, given their common colonial heritage, and ancestral and cultural ties with China. Yet, they also compete fiercely for global capital and business, and are governed under very different political and socioeconomic systems. Given this, the risks of misunderstanding and hasty conclusions are high.
To help us understand what events in Hong Kong portend and their deeper meaning, IPS is pleased to present Prof. Wang Gungwu, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, and Mr Manu Bhaskaran, Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies.
Mr Bhaskaran will discuss the latest developments there. He will sketch out potential scenarios for Hong Kong, and their implications for Singapore. Prof. Wang will offer a historical perspective on Hong Kong's evolving identity and relationship with China. He has argued that, since the Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong has been a base for dissidents from China opposed to the mainland government, from those seeking to restore the Ming Dynasty, to Kuomintang supporters and Communists. It has operated under a de facto “one country, two systems” from its beginning as a British colony.* What made the new “one country, two systems” different, and why are the current series of protests more difficult to handle than those in the past?
The stakes are high. How this impasse is resolved will have implications for millions of Hongkongers, and speak to the position and image that the Chinese government wishes to project to its citizens as well as observers overseas.
*See Prof. Wang's recent journal article, Singapore and Hong Kong: Historical Images, available here.