Political Attitudes, Political Participation, and Hong Kong Identities after 1997

Abstract

Over the past two decades, the political implications stemming from the cultural identities of people in Hong Kong have been an important research topic in the study of the city`s reunification with China. Due to the peculiar historical conditions of Hong Kong`s development, past research has generally focused on the dichotomy of a ”Hongkongese” vs. a ”Chinese” identity. The present article, however argues that this dichotomous approach can no longer capture the central issue of the identity question in today`s Hong Kong. Because of economic, social, and political integration, Hong Kong identity is no longer necessarily defined in terms of its distinctiveness from China. Rather, multiple Hong Kong identities can be constructed based on different understandings of the relationship between Hong Kong and the mainland. This article illustrates these arguments via a review of opinion polls in Hong Kong after 1997 which have shown that Hong Kong people increasingly identify with China. More important, analysis of a survey conducted in 2004 confirms the existence of multiple Hong Kong identities. The findings also show that people holding different Hong Kong identities have different sets of political attitudes and beliefs. Nevertheless, political participation-especially with regard to issues that link Hong Kong to China-is driven by a ”Hong Kong Chinese” identity. The existence of multiple identities in Hong Kong has implications for future discussions of identity and patriotism.