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Stephen Vines: Hong Kong’s schizophrenic China patriotism
Eleven years after Britain returned the crown colony of Hong Kong to China, Stephen Vines, a longtime Hong Kong-based journalist and entrepreneur, highlights the territory’s schizophrenic patriotism in this video.
While many in Hong Kong cheer the Olympic victories of China, the commemoration of the June 4 crackdown shows the complexity of the territory’s relationship with Beijing. Many Hong Kong people see the commemoration as an intensely patriotic event, while Beijing sees it as a dissident event, Vines said.
Until fairly recently, the vast majority of Hong Kong’s population had fled from China to Hong Kong as refugees escaping the cultural revolution.
As for the Olympics, there was great support for China as the torch relay came through Hong Kong. For all this celebration of Hong Kong’s Chinese-ness, however, the recent scandal about top government advisors holding foreign passports shows that the residents don’t have full confidence in Beijing.
Beijing should celebrate the territory’s uniqueness rather than fear it, Vines said.
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Hi Thomas,
This is a really great interview. Very eye opening. Would love to see more of these posts from HK and the mainland alike.
Steve Vines is my favourite. He’s outspoken and a good journalist. The RTHK English TV programme he hosts, The Pulse, is one of the few remaining shows that dares to report what is really going on in HK and China.
It’s amazing to see how people, including some foreigners try twisting and turning patriotism in China into something ugly and bad. According to this guys Vines, Chinese patriotism means “solely identifying with the Chinese mainland the CCP”. BS. Why is it so hard for him and many other people (especially those “puzzled” foreigners) to understand that many Hong Kong residents are simply identifying themselves with “China” and “Chinese ness” and celebrating their roots- being Chinese? What’s wrong with that? What’s wrong with HK people cheering for China at the Olympics? They are Chinese after all. What are people expecting? Them not cheering for China but for Britain??
“You are either for or against this type of government(referring to China’s one-party state)”. Gee, how familiar! We’ve heard that from somewhere, haven’t we? I am baffled that there are people like Vines out there who believe that as long as one doesn’t approve of the regime/government, you can’t feel patriotic toward the country. Gee. I just don’t get certain people. Who is to say China = CCP?
And what’s wrong with being pragmatic? As several Chinese posters have pointed out, some Chinese choosing to carry foreign passports not because they think China is going to slip into a hell hole but simply because it is CONVENIENT for them to travel to foreign countries. If you were a Chinese citizen you would have to go through a length process to get a tourist visa to visit say Japan, but if you were a US citizen you could simply hop on a plane going to Japan. Carrying foreign passports or resident cards doesn’t mean these people are cutting ties to China, it doesn’t mean that they can’t feel patriotic toward China. Following this strange logic I’d say those long-term foreign expats who became residents of China should not feel patriotic toward their respective countries? BS.
Finally, Vines considered the uproar over elected or appointed government officials carrying foreign passports a problem associated with one-party states. Oh really? I don’t think the British or the American public would be happy if they find out some of their highest officials are foreign citizens. They ask every citizen to pay allegiance to their country, let alone their government officials who could seriously jeopardize their national interests with their conflicts of interests.
This coming from a Brit, I think it can be dismissed as what it is, sour grape. I am just amazed by the number of foreigners getting annoyed by Chinese patriotism, and nationalism etc. I certainly understand that they don’t share it (just like the Chinese wouldn’t share the frenzy of the July 4th celebrations), but they should be able to understand why the Chinese feel way. If you can’t stand foreigners feeling patriotic toward their own countries, go home and find your own patriotic bunch.
Well said Pffefer. China lives by Chinese rules and we should respect that. If ordinary citizens are content with the way they’re goverened who are we to criticise? Western liberal democratic ideologies aren’t the right prescriptions for all societies.
I’m not sure if all Chinese are content with the way they are governed.
Ich bin nicht sicher das alle Chinesischen sind erfreut wie sie regiert werden.
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Agree with Pffefer, China not necessarily mean CCP ! Look Taiwan people, most of them are strong chinese patriot (ok, ROC Patriot, but it’s China anyway) !
[…] It’s been over a decade since Hong Kong returned to China, but that doesn’t mean that issues of identity and nationalism have disappeared. Thomas Crampton interviews journalist Stephen Vines on Hong Kong’s Schizophrenic nationalism. […]
[…] Britain returned its crown colony to China, Stephen Vines, journalist and entrepreneur, speaks with Thomas Crampton about Hong Kong’s schizophrenic patriotism. Tags: Hong Kong, Steve Vines, Thomas […]