Current Political Economic Situation of Hong Kong - Coursework Example

of Unit Current Political Economic Situation of HK Since and before the handover of Honk Kong back to China in 1997, there has been tension between Hong Kongers and the government in Beijing. The tension has been on democratic situation of the city. On September 22, the existing pressure turned into a protest after the Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS), organized a strike. The strike was necessitated by the formation of a law that gave the government in Beijing the power to influence elections in Hong Kong. However, the Occupy Central (OC) movement was launched officially on September 28, 2014 after HKFS, OC with Love and Peace (OCLP) and other movements united against the central government. The objective of the movement is to exhibit an organized and united determination for actual universal suffrage for Hong Kong’s Chief Executive (CE) in 2017. It wants to show a united dissatisfaction over the proposal by the National People’s Congress to demand that CE candidates be screened. This paper discusses the long-term impacts of the movement and meaning of independence of Hong Kong. It also discusses possible democratization of China. Theories about Movement Long-term Effects Emigration of the Youths Young people in Hong Kong are faced with soulless service jobs and continuous economic crises. They are forced into highly competitive spots in top universities and life-crushing corporate jobs, which force them to work long hours. They then are forced to spend over 40 percent of their income on housing, as housing is a problem in Hong Kong. The city is densely populated that most of the young people are forced to stay with their parents into their thirties. The situation forces some to remain in slum units build on top of houses. Over 50,000 residents are estimated to live in cages. In spite of the fact that Hong Kong is not in the same anomic breakdown like Greece, over-crowded, over-worked youth of Hong Kong have a lot in common with underpaid, unemployed youths of Athens. Due to the failure of current protests and with a foreclosed future, many youths will leave the city leading to the disappearance of the culture of Hong Kong. Destruction of the Economic Status of Hong Kong Hong Kong is rated as the fourth competitive city in the world. It is one of the cities, which serves as center for exchange of world’s currencies. The city is thus well referred and thus attracts many investors. However, current protests have gone beyond previous anti-Chinese movements. In current protests against the central government in Beijing, many youths who have also been joined by the older people have destroyed the normal life of the city. Hong Kong’s people have created a negative image not for the Chinese government alone but also to themselves. Due to the demonstrations, many investors, visitors have been driven away. Protests that have become more frequent are likely to erode the appeal of Hong Kong to global firms. Hang Seng index, the local stock market benchmark, has tumbled over 9% since hitting a peak in six months in September. The HK Monetary Authority, reveals banks have closed down 44 branches because of the protests (Young, 2014). The situation of the city can thus push away investors as most sectors, as the financial markets are not operating normally. Most people who could be working are in the streets, protesting. According to the Citigroup economist, Adrienne Lui, investors and businesses are in an environment; that is increasingly creating higher operational risks. The movement seems disorderly to most foreigners and has thus created a negative perception of Hong Kong and mainland China. Racism Rather than attributing the difficulties of Hong Kong to international capitalist class, the people of Hong Kong associate them to mainland’s capitalists. Furthermore, they attribute them to thousands of poorer mainlanders who have migrated to the city. They portray the mainlanders as locusts who have infested the city. The public widely accepts anti-mainland sentiments. In 2012, Apple Daily ran a full-page advert that portrayed an enormous locust threatening the city. The advert then asked the Hong Kongers whether they accept their one million Hong Kong Dollars to be used every 18 minutes to raise children of mainlanders. Early this year, over a hundred people, joined an anti-locust campaign with signs that read, “Reclaim Hong Kong,” and “Go back to China.” Even though current protests seem to have sidelined anti-mainland groups, experience shows that when pan-democrats began to falter anti-mainland sentiments are adopted by youths that are more radical. The movement in Hong Kong is thus likely to create a division between the mainlanders and the original people of Hong Kong (Hong, et al., 2014). Meaning of Independence Hong Kong’s people attribute the source of their difficulties to the Chinese immigrants. However, the local government in the city cannot stop them as the two areas are undergoing integration. Therefore, Hong Kongers think independence would enable them to design their future without the influence of the mainlanders. The youth thinks that their government would be able to create education and job positions for them as the incorrect system designed by mainlanders would be corrected. Houses would be available, as thousand of mainlanders would leave the city. On the short-term, their success to achieve independence from Chinese would be a means to secure and strengthen their culture, which according to them is not like that of mainlanders. Implications of the Reform On the immediate situation, the movement has affected the economy. In the sector, hotels, restaurants, and retail are the most affected. In 2013, 41 million visitors from mainland China went to Hong Kong. In the year 2014, the number of visitors coming from the mainland has gone down. The China National Tourism Administration has stopped tourists under package tours from visiting HK. The results have been the shortcomings in the economy as 30 percent of Chinese visitors travel via package tours. However, the stoppage of package tours is a temporary measure and does not point to the long-term structural change in China. It does not also mean that the Chinese government would cut the Individual Visitors Scheme (IVS) as it is one of the China’s bigger plans for integration with Hong Kong. Therefore, the movement has no long-term impacts on the economy. However, its long-term political and social effects can lead to long-term economic results. Despite the results of the protests, Chinese government has shown no sign of relenting. The Beijing’s government wants to assert power. Therefore, it decision on the issue of Hong Kong has been unshakeable. It has refused to yield to the demands of the protestors (Young, Simon, and Ghai, 2014). Instead, it has been in the forefront calling local government in the city to control the protests. The Chinese government has been confident that the authorities in the city can control the situation. Leung Chun-Ying, the Chief Executive (CE) of Hong Kong, held a press conference in September 28 where he declared that his government opposed Occupy Central movement (Wong and Gary, 2014). He also emphasized the unofficial nature of elections held by Occupy Central leaders and the plan for education of people about proposed political change. Democratization Hong Kong’s annual GDP growth rate has been about two percent in recent years. Immediately after the handover, the city contributed 15.6 percent to the GDP of China (Wang, Pookong, and Jia, 2014). The reduced growth rate of GDP of the city has led GDPs of each of cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, to exceed that of Hong Kong. In 2013, HK’s GDP was about 261 billion U.S dollars while for Beijing was 317 billion U.S dollars. By 2017, the GDPs of the northern municipality of Tianjin and southern cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen are expected to exceed that of Hong Kong (Li, 2014). However, despite these facts, Hong Kong is an important competitive city in the world. The Economist Intelligence Unit positioned Hong Kong at the fourth-most competitive cities in the world ahead of Beijing, which was ranked 39th and Shanghai, which was listed 43rd (So and Yuang, 2014). Unlike cities in mainland China, Hong Kong has superb infrastructure, well-established legal system, and cosmopolitan culture. These characteristics make it a global financial center. Due to these features of the city, the central government cannot give it away so easily. However, the Independence for Hong Kong means a lot. In the short-term, the independence of the city would lead to the elimination of the Beijing’s influence and formation of a democratic society. In long term, it means the development of the culture of the Hong Kong’s people, which is different from that of the mainland. The Hong Kongers embrace western values. Therefore, a country with similar characteristics as western nations would be developed. The development of such a country would give the city an attractive image. Many investors would move to the city and thus change the economic situation of the city. Reform has certain implications that challenge the achievements of the objectives of the independence. It makes the city undemocratic thus creating a bad image of it. The global importance of the city would be destroyed by the reform leading to the destruction of the economy. Furthermore, the change affects in a negative manner the western values that are embraced by every Hong Konger. The continuous protests by those determined to use voice and the governments scheme to protect the global image of the city would make the government embrace democracy. Even though, Hong Kong does not contribute much to the total GDP of China as compares with other cities, it is an important gateway for China to the global market. The Chinese government cannot thus afford to lose the city through independence or destruction of its already established global image. Therefore, it will eventually give in to the continuous protests. For instance, even though, the European nations took time to allow independence of their colonies, they finally gave them. In the same manner, the Chinese government would finally give in to the demands of protestors, as it wants to protect its economy from destruction. If it did not democracy, it would lead to the destruction of its economy as the country would be seen globally as oppressive thus limiting the number of investors. Protests in Other Autonomous Religions of China China has several other autonomous regions. They are Inner Mongolia, which was established in 1947, Xinjiang established in 1955, Tibet created in 1965, and Ningxia and Guangxi, which were created in 1958. Just like in Hong Kong, some of these regions usually engage in bitter confrontation with the central government. Tibet is the best example. Every year, many Tibetans lose their lives while trying to fight the central government. Therefore, in case the Hong Kong’s people are able to cause the central to drop the reform, other autonomous regions like Tibet, which are fighting independence would be motivated leading to instability in China. However, in case they do not win, people in other regions might lose hopes of gaining any independence and thus making China a peaceful country. Conclusion The current situation in Hong Kong is chaotic. Many people are in the streets demonstrating against a political change intended to be implemented in 2017. In the reform, the central government has created a body of 1200 individuals to be vetting candidates for Chief Executive of Hong Kong. Due to the reform, Occupy Central movement was created. This movement, which includes several protests, has failed to achieve its goal. The central government is adamant. Due to this reason, Hong Kongers are expected to choose between loyalty and exit. However, owing to the existence of determined protestors, the government would eventually embrace democratic reforms. In case it embraces, it would motivated other autonomous regions to fight the central government leading to instability in most regions of China. Work Cited Chen, Piera, Andrew Stone, and Chung W. Chow. Hong Kong. Footscray, Vic: Lonely Planet, 2013. Print. Huang, Flora X, and Wai H. Yeung. Chinese Companies and the Hong Kong Stock Market. , 2014. Print. Hong, Sun-Kee, Jan Bogaert, Qingwen Min, and Marie André. Biocultural Landscapes: Diversity, Functions and Values. , 2014. Print. Li, Rita. Economics and Finance of the Real Estate Market: A Perspective of Hong Kong and Singapore. , 2014. Print. Reiber, Beth. Hong Kong. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley, 2013. Print. So, Bennis W. Y, and Yuang K. Kao. The Changing Policy-Making Process in Greater China: Case Research from Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. , 2014. Print. Tilly, Charles. Democracy. Cambridge [England: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Print. Wong, Cindy, and Gary McDonogh. Global Hong Kong. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis, 2014. Print. Wang, Mark, Pookong Kee, and Jia Gao. Transforming Chinese Cities. , 2014. Print. Young, Simon N. M, and Yash P. Ghai. Hong Kongs Court of Final Appeal: The Development of the Law in Chinas Hong Kong. , 2014. Print. Read More