As the Covid-19 pandemic strikes hard, protests in Hong Kong appear to have abated. Distant seem the days when yellow umbrellas and balaclavas saturated global media. And yet, just like at the start of what has now come to be known as the 2019 “global protest wave”, Hong Kong remains at the frontline of political contestation worldwide. The protests against the 2019 Hong Kong anti-extradition law unearthed one of the main points of contention between Hong Kong and mainland China. Through the protests, China’s increasingly assertive stance has found a counterweight, revealing how important the city is to Beijing. Apart from Hong Kong’s role as a major global trade and financial area, China’s actions towards Hong Kong might also serve as a litmus test for Beijing’s ability to mediate and pacify its neighbourhood. Meanwhile, the Covid-19 pandemic risks further heightening tensions between the two. What makes Hong Kong special? To what extent have the protests exacerbated or eased over time? How will the city’s role in mainland China’s outward-looking plans change, if the protests continue?
Table of Contents
Paolo Magri
1. Hong Kong and China: A Controversial Historical Relationship
Guido Samarani
2. Political Contestation in Hong Kong: From Containment to Elimination
Alvin Y.H. Cheung
3. The Fatality of Dissent: Comparing the 2014 and 2019 Hong Kong Protests
Éric Sautedé
4. “Today’s Macau, Tomorrow’s Hong Kong”? What Future for “One Country, Two Systems”?
Victoria Tin-bor Hui
5. Hong Kong: One Country, Two Systems, Three Challenges
Alicia García-Herrero, Gary Ng
6. Is the Greater Bay Area China’s Future?
Dingding Chen, Junmin Wang
7. Hong Kong in China’s Current “Opening-Up” Strategy
Alessia Amighini
Conclusions and Policy Recommendations for the EU
Alessia Amighini, Giulia Sciorati
