Table Of ContentRoutledge Handbook of
Contemporary Hong Kong
When Britain and China negotiated the future of Hong Kong in the early 1980s, their primary
concern was about maintaining the status quo. The rise of China in the last thirty years,
however, has reshaped the Beijing-Hong Kong dynamic as new tensions and divisions have
emerged. Thus, post-1997 Hong Kong is a case about a global city’s democratic transition
within an authoritarian state.
The R outledge Handbook of Contemporary Hong Kong introduces readers to these key social,
economic and political developments. Bringing together the work of leading researchers in the
field, it focuses on the process of transition from a British colony to a Special Administrative
Region under China’s sovereign rule. Organized thematically, the sections covered include:
• ‘One Country, Two Systems’ in practice
• Governance in post-colonial Hong Kong
• Social mobilization
• The changing social fabric of Hong Kong society
• Socio-economic development and regional integration
• The future of Hong Kong.
This book provides a thorough introduction to Hong Kong today. As such, it will be invaluable
to students and scholars of Hong Kong’s politics, culture and society. It will also be of interest
to those studying Chinese political development and the impact of China’s rise more generally.
Tai-lok Lui is Chair Professor of Hong Kong Studies and Vice President of Research and
Development at The Education University of Hong Kong. He is the co-author of Hong Kong:
Becoming a Chinese Global City (2009).
Stephen W.K. Chiu is Chair Professor of Sociology and the Co-Director of The Academy of
Hong Kong Studies at The Education University of Hong Kong. His recent publications include
Repositioning the Hong Kong Government: Social Foundations and Political Challenges (2012).
Ray Yep is Professor of Politics and Associate Head of Department of Public Policy, City
University of Hong Kong. His recent publications include N egotiating Autonomy in Greater China
(2013).
Routledge Handbook of
Contemporary Hong Kong
Edited by Tai-lok Lui, Stephen W.K. Chui
and Ray Yep
First published 2019
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2019 selection and editorial matter, Tai-lok Lui, Stephen W.K. Chui and Ray
Yep; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Tai-lok Lui, Stephen W.K. Chui and Ray Yep to be identified as
the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual
chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent
to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN: 978-1-138-95993-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-66053-0 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
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Contents
Figures and tables viii
Notes on contributors xii
Acknowledgements xviii
I ntroduction: The long transition 1
Tai-lok Lui, Stephen W.K. Chiu, and Ray Yep
THEME 1
‘One Country, Two Systems’ in practice 31
1 The autonomy of Hong Kong under “One Country, Two Systems” 33
Albert H.Y. Chen
2 The Basic Law in the courts: Learning to live with China and a
changing Hong Kong 52
Danny Gittings
3 Becoming part of one national economy: Maintaining two systems
in the midst of the rise of China 66
Yun-Wing Sung
THEME 2
Governing post-colonial Hong Kong 87
4 Stalemate in the Legislative Council of Hong Kong: Disarticulation,
fragmentation, and the political battleground of “One Country,
Two Systems” 89
Chor-yung Cheung
5 Advisory politics before and after 1997: In search of a new
relationship between state, political society and civil society 109
Brian C.H. Fong
v
Contents
6 “Consultative politics” refi ned: The precarious development of civic
engagement in post-colonial Hong Kong 123
Kay C.Y. Lam
7 Party underdevelopment in protracted transition 139
Ngok Ma
THEME 3
Social mobilization 153
8 Social mobilization for large-scale protests: From the July 1
demonstration to the Umbrella Movement 155
Francis L.F. Lee and Joseph M. Chan
9 Opinion media: From talk radio to internet alternative websites 170
Francis L.F. Lee
10 Social media and social mobilization 185
Gary Tang
11 Legal mobilization 199
Wai Keung Tam
12 Transformative events and their frames and repertoires of contention 210
Edmund W. Cheng
13 Confrontation, state repression and the autonomy of metropolitan
Hong Kong: The Umbrella Movement and the 1967 Riots compared 227
Ray Yep
THEME 4
The changing social fabric 245
14 Growing socio-economic inequalities 247
Hon-Kwong Lui
15 Ethnic minorities and ethnicity in Hong Kong 259
Paul O’Connor
16 Mainland migrants in Hong Kong 275
Eric Fong, Jenny X. Li, and Carew C.S. Chan
17 Youth and the changing opportunity structure 290
Chung Yan Ip
vi
Contents
18 Hong Kong’s middle class after 1997 305
Chung Yan Ip and Tai-lok Lui
19 A genealogy of business and politics in Hong Kong 324
Tak-Wing Ngo
20 The real estate elite and real estate hegemony 342
Stan Hok-Wui Wong
THEME 5
Socio-economic development and regional integration 363
21 Hong Kong’s fi lm industry reconstituted: Pathways to China
after the golden age 365
Stephen W.K. Chiu and Victor K.W. Shin
22 End of a chapter? Hong Kong manufacturers in the Pearl River Delta 397
Godfrey Yeung
23 Hong Kong: China’s global city 414
David R. Meyer
24 Chinese state capitalism in Hong Kong 430
Ho-fung Hung
THEME 6
Future development 449
25 Identity as politics: Contesting the local, the national and the global 451
Agnes Shuk-mei Ku
26 Political de-institutionalization and the rise of right-wing nativism 462
Iam-chong Ip
27 Sustainable development in Hong Kong: Roadblocks and road-map 474
Mee Kam Ng
28 Hong Kong’s integration with Mainland China in historical perspective 494
Alvin Y. So
29 Lost in competition: Rethinking Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Shenzhen
as a new triangle of China’s global cities and regional hubs 511
Xiangming Chen
Index 531
vii
Figures and tables
Figures
3.1 Mainland trade in the form of Hong Kong’s entrepot trade and
offshore trade 72
3.2 Mainland’s total services trade and mainland-Hong Kong services
trade, 1995–2015 75
3.3 Hong Kong’s shares in the Mainland’s inward and outward FDI,
1985–2016 77
5.1 Total number of “advisory and statutory bodies” (1980 to 2013) 112
5.2 Number of civil society organizations (1997–2013) 117
5.3 Number of public meetings/possessions (1997–2013) 117
12.1 Protest trends and prosecutions in Hong Kong, 2003–2015 214
14.1 Percentage share by household size, 1997–2016 252
14.2 Median household income by household size, 1997–2016 254
18.1 Fringe benefits obtained by middle-level managerial and professional
employees, 1986–2015 311
18.2a Real Salary Index (A) for middle-level managerial and professional employees
by selected industries, 1995–2015 319
18.2b Real Salary Index (B) for middle-level managerial and professional employees
by selected industry section, 1995–2015 319
20.1 Employee income according to education level, 2006–2011 352
21.1 Box-office takes of local versus imported films in Hong Kong, 1971–2015 366
21.2 Percentage share of imported films in the Hong Kong box office, 1971–2015 367
21.3 Composition of theatre chains of major film companies since the 1990s 377
21.4 Number of cinemas in Hong Kong, 1984–2012 380
21.5 Key incidents leading to the downfall of Hong Kong’s film industry during
the 1990s 386
22.1 Percentage share of utilized value of FDI in Guangdong province,
1989–2015 400
27.1 Percentage of property-related revenue and land premium with reference
to government’s total revenue 478
27.2 Land premium per square foot 479
27.3 Production of housing units by types and land premium per square foot 486
27.4 Production of housing units by types and housing price index (1999 = 100) 487
29.1 A powerful triangle of Chinese global cities: competition versus
cooperation → synergy 514
viii
Figures and tables
29.2 Shares of agriculture, manufacturing, and services in Hong Kong’s GDP,
1970–2014 515
29.3 Shares of agriculture, manufacturing, and services in Shanghai’s GDP,
1984–2014 515
29.4 Shares of low- versus high-end services in Shanghai, 1984–2014 516
29.5 Shenzhen’s population growth, 1979–2014 519
29.6 Shares of agriculture, manufacturing, and services in Shenzhen’s GDP,
1979–2014 519
Tables
4.1 DAB’s election strategy 96
4.AI The evolution of the composition of the Legislative Council of the Hong
Kong Special Administrative Region since 1997 105
5.1 Advisory and statutory bodies in Hong Kong (2013) 113
5.2 Background analysis of members of major advisory committees (1975–2000) 113
5.3 Background analysis of members of all advisory and statutory bodies (2013) 114
5.4 The expansion of popularly elected seats in the Legislative Council
(from 1991 to 2020) 115
5.5 The expansion of popularly elected seats in the District Council
(from 1982 to 2019) 116
5.6 Background analysis of members of the Antiquities Advisory Board (2013) 119
6.1 Number of public consultation exercises and percentage of civic engagement
(2008–March 2017) 129
6.2 Duration of civic engagement activities (2012–2017) 131
7.1 Distribution of Legco seats by electoral method, 1998 to 2016 140
7.2 Institutional trust in major institutions 144
7.3 “The party that you most support”, 2010–2015 144
7.4 Number of lists in geographical elections, 1998–2012 145
10.1 Comparison of political attitudes and political participation of Hong
Kong’s youths relying on different media for information of political and
public affairs 188
10.2 Comparison of attitudes towards radical protest actions and acceptance of
specific protest action of Hong Kong citizens with different degrees of political
use of social media 191
10.3 Comparison of attitudes towards political parties, movement organizations,
mass media, online alternative media, and Facebook of participation-leaders
and non-participation leaders 195
11.1 Breakdown of the administrative cases that the HKCFA heard
(July 1997–2015) 200
11.2 Background of non-government litigants across various types of issues 203
11.3 Success rate of different types of litigants in administrative cases before
the HKCFA (July 1997–2015) (%) 205
12.1 Motivations for participation among Umbrella Movement participants 219
12.2 The protest history of Umbrella Movement participants 221
12.3 Political affiliation of Umbrella Movement participants 222
13.1 Violence and resistance compared 231
14.1 Nominal GDP per capita and median household income 249
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