Beijing cannot wish away the growing sense of hopelessness in Hong Kong

Alice Wu says rather than the big political rows, it is the day-to-day frictions with the mainland that lead many Hongkongers to feel a sense of alienation in their own hometown, and the central government must address this problem

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Commercial buildings in the business district of Central in Hong Kong. Runaway home prices exacerbated by cross-border capital flight have made home ownership an increasingly unattainable dream for many Hongkongers. Photo: EPA

Published: 2:01pm, 25 Jun 2017Updated: 5:27pm, 25 Jun 2017

The war on Hong Kong pro-independence thought looks like it is here to stay. The legal chief of Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong, Wang Zhenmin, this month told Hongkongers to wake up from our “illusion” that we can develop a set of politics different from the mainland’s. Just three days earlier, the city’s outgoing chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, warned against a “gradual growth of pro-independence thought”.

Calls for Hong Kong independence are a non-starter. But here we are being hammered by a seeming avalanche of talk on the subject by those who don’t want us to talk about it. This isn’t exactly how I imagined we would be celebrating the 20th anniversary of the handover.

Such tough talk is worrisome. It widens the already wide gulf of distrust between Beijing and Hong Kong. With emotions running high, it is time to call for pause and caution.

We cannot ignore the facts on the ground and oversimplify complex issues. Hong Kong does not have a pro-independence problem. “One country, two systems” has not failed here. We are, however, experiencing a growing disconnect with Beijing, which adds to the many problems we have yet to resolve.

Mainland Chinese tourists take photographs next to the statue of a Golden Bauhinia flower in Hong Kong. The “two systems” in “one country” have had some major disagreements, but it is the more minor, day-to-day, frictions that have contributed more significantly to cross-border distrust. Photo: EPA

The “two systems” in our “one country” have had some major disagreements, not least over the interpretations of the Basic Law by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. However, it is the more minor, day-to-day, frictions that have contributed more significantly to cross-border distrust. Beijing cannot reasonably ignore why Hongkongers have felt increasingly dispossessed and alienated over the past two decades.

Beijing cannot wish away the growing sense of hopelessness in Hong Kong

Alice Wu says rather than the big political rows, it is the day-to-day frictions with the mainland that lead many Hongkongers to feel a sense of alienation in their own hometown, and the central government must address this problem

For Hong Kong – part Chinese, part Western – destiny awaits