Ideologies and Factionalism in Beijing–Hong Kong Relations

Abstract

Clashes between the ideologies of pro-Beijing nationalism and pro–Hong Kong localism have become far more prominent in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region since 2013. This article explores the origins, content, and impact of the ideological conflicts between Beijing and Hong Kong.

Hong Kong: Inevitably irrelevant to China?

“…This deep ideological conflict has made Mainland China-Hong Kong relations far more turbulent and unstable (Lo, 2018). There are a number of cases regarding Mainland China's political encroachment on Hong Kong's affairs such as the Standing Committee of the Chinese National People's Congress's interpretations of Hong Kong's Basic Law and Beijing's concept of comprehensive jurisdiction, the use and adjudication of the Public Order Ordinance, several ongoing cases and controversies involving the eligibility of candidates for office (including the banning of the Hong Kong National Party under the Societies Ordinance), the potential implementation of new national security laws, the disappearance and abduction of Hong Kong residents by Chinese agents, the legal controversy over the deployment of Chinese officials at a new high-speed rail terminal in Hong Kong, and the adoption of extradition legislation including to Mainland China (House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, 2019; USSC, 2019).…”

“…This deep ideological conflict has made Mainland China-Hong Kong relations far more turbulent and unstable (Lo, 2018)…”

“…Third, Hong Kong's role vis-à-vis Mainland China will be further overshadowed. As argued by Lo (2018), ideology is arguably the most important factor shaping Mainland China-Hong Kong relations. For example, rights protection and heritage preservation activism and the enormous growth of its civil society are unique facets of Hong Kong, and Hong Kong's civil society has become an offshoring space of Mainland China's civil society (Duara, 2016), whereas in Mainland China, as discussed above, civil society has been regarded as one of the most threatening destabilising agents.…”