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Thursday, June 20, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
OPINION

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the University of Michigan since 1890.

 ERIN WHITE
Editorial Page Editor

Zack Blumberg
Emma Chang
Joel Danilewitz
Emily Huhman
Tara Jayaram

Jeremy Kaplan
Magdalena Mihaylova
Ellery Rosenzweig
Jason Rowland
Anu Roy-Chaudhury

Alex Satola
Timothy Spurlin
Nicholas Tomaino
Erin White 
Ashley Zhang

Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s Editorial Board. 
All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.

CASSANDRA MANSUETTI
Editor in Chief

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS

EMILY CONSIDINE | CONTACT CARTOONIST AT EMCONSID@UMICH.EDU

June marketing

ZACK BLUMBERG | COLUMN
F

or many Americans, the U.S. 
trade war with China has 
been fought abstractly. Stock 
prices dropped, and reports have 
come out explaining how tariffs on 
Chinese imports will raise the price of 
everything from iPhones to washing 
machines. 
Within 
America, 
the 
conflict hasn’t escalated beyond tariffs 
and empty threats, despite being, in 
part, a conflict over global political 
ideologies. However, 8,100 miles 
away from Washington, the trade 
war and America’s shifting approach 
toward China have absolutely massive 
implications for the future of the 
Chinese autonomous territory of 
Hong Kong. The region has existed 
in a state of political limbo for the past 
two decades, and increasing tensions 
between China and the West could 
mean the end of Hong Kong as we 
know it.
Hong Kong, home to over 7.4 
million people, is a global business 
hub with a complicated past. After 
the first Opium War ended in 1842, 
the Qing Dynasty was forced to 
give the island of Hong Kong — at 
that point little more than a fishing 
village — to the victorious British. 
The British gradually expanded their 
control beyond the original island, 
and eventually pressured China into 
signing a 99-year lease (traditionally 
the longest possible real estate lease) 
in 1898, which gave the British full 
control over the territory. Largely 
politically autonomous and culturally 
British, the island prospered as an 
outpost of Liberal democracy.
In the 1980s, with the 99-year 
lease 
nearing 
its 
end 
and 
no 
specific plan for the future of Hong 

Kong 
in 
place, 
Chinese 
leader 
Deng 
Xiaoping 
introduced 
the 
“one country, two systems” idea. 
Under Deng’s plan, Hong Kong 
would become part of China, but 
would 
remain 
administratively 
autonomous, allowing it to operate 
its own government with a capitalist 
economic system, separate from 
communist 
China. 
Hong 
Kong 
has operated under this model of 
governance since the transfer of the 
territory from Britain to China in 
1997.
In the 22 years since Hong Kong 
became Chinese, the “one country, 
two systems” model has been largely 
effective, if not perfect. Hong Kong 
has continued to prosper financially, 
and it is ranked as the freest economy 
in the world. Simultaneously, the 
government has remained largely 
protective of citizens’ individual 
rights. After thousands of protestors 
took to the streets in 2003, Hong 
Kong legislators agreed not to pass a 
bill which would have allowed Hong 
Kongers found guilty of treason, 
sedition, secession or subversion 
against mainland China’s government 
to be sentenced to life in prison, which 
would have allowed China greater 
control over the city-state.
However, 
things 
have 
been 
changing in recent years. In 2014, 
Hong Kongers took to the streets to 
protest again after China announced 
they would vet candidates for Hong 
Kong’s 2017 elections, infringing on 
the region’s freedom. In those 2017 
elections, Carrie Lam, a pro-mainland 
candidate, 
was 
elected 
Chief 
Executive of Hong Kong despite being 
unpopular in the city. This is largely 

thanks to the backing of the mainland 
Chinese government, which controls 
many seats on the election committee.
After being elected, Lam talked 
about “The work of uniting society,” 
along with other ideas which stand 
in direct contrast to the “one country, 
two systems” ideology. Now, another 
round of protests have arisen after 
Hong Kong’s government announced 
their intent to pass a bill allowing 
certain criminals to be extradited to 
mainland China for trials. Lam, in a 
style typical of the mainland Chinese 
Communist Party, refused to even 
engage with the protestors on a 
political level, saying they were acting 
like spoiled children.
All 
of 
China’s 
recent 
encroachments on Hong Kong’s 
sovereignty, combined with a rapid 
anti-China 
shift 
among 
many 
Western powers, puts Hong Kong’s 
future in a very precarious position. 
Though China consistently prioritizes 
cultural and societal unity over both 
human rights and diversity, it used 
to make sense for China to respect 
Hong Kong’s autonomy. When China 
first reclaimed Hong Kong in 1998, it 
was not the economic superpower it 
is today. That year, China was seventh 
in the world in GDP, well behind the 
United States and a host of its allies: 
Japan, Germany, Britain, France and 
Italy.
At a time when the world was 
still unquestionably dominated by 
capitalist liberal democracies, having 
a prosperous capitalist, cosmopolitan 
outpost was a reputation booster for 
China, a country known for repressive 
communism 
and 
economically 
totalitarian five-year plans. By keeping 

Hong Kong open, China was able to 
attract global investment to the city, 
which is today home to the highest 
concentration of ultra high-net-worth 
individuals (defined as a net worth 
over $30 million) in the world. It is also 
considered an “alpha+” level world 
city, meaning it is classified as a “city 
which is a primary node in the global 
economic network” (this is the second 
highest ranking, after “alpha++”).
However, 
China’s 
geopolitical 
position today is far different than it 
was back in 1998, a change that has 
drastically altered world affairs. By 
promoting itself as a manufacturing 
hub for wealthy Western nations, 
utilizing economic protectionism and 
occasionally just outright ignoring 
global trade rules, China has rapidly 
grown and accumulated wealth. 
Today, with the second biggest gross 
domestic product in the world, an 
ambitious list of global projects such 
as the Belt and Road Initiative and 
expanding claims over regions such as 
the South China Sea, China is clearly 
a global superpower. China’s rapid 
ascension means Hong Kong, which 
once served as a valuable attraction 
for western powers, is now more of a 
liberalist thorn in the country’s side. 
Now, with the U.S. leading a Western 
charge against China over their illicit 
trading practices, China has less 
reason than ever to worry about the 
west’s perception of liberalism in 
Hong Kong.
When 
analyzing 
the 
political 
future of Hong Kong, it is important to 
consider the geographical realities of 
the situation. Though Hong Kongers 
firmly identify as being from Hong 
Kong, not China, as evidenced by their 

history of large-scale protest against 
Chinese encroachment on their rights, 
and although the city is culturally 
and economically quite Western, 
Hong Kong’s defining feature is its 
location. Ultimately, the city is still 
an island located just across the river 
from mainland China. In any dispute 
over the political future of Hong 
Kong, China, with its large army, 
deep resource pool and geographical 
position will have the upper hand 
against both the West and Hong Kong 
itself.
Taking everything into account, 
it is clear that Deng’s idea for “one 
country, two systems,” with a Hong 
Kong largely free of Chinese political 
influence, will soon be a thing of the 
past. As China continues to expand 
and flex its geopolitical strength, how 
much influence it will exert over Hong 
Kong is now the relationship’s major 
issue. China has both grown more 
powerful and become more repressive 
in recent years, but Hong Kong is still 
an economic and political bright spot, 
even if it is not as crucial as it once was. 
With that in mind, China will likely 
act cautiously when approaching 
Hong Kong, with the goal of limiting 
its autonomy without causing too 
great a global uproar. China will likely 
not touch Hong Kong’s economic 
freedoms, a major component of what 
makes the city so attractive, but will 
work to continuously chip away at the 
city’s political liberalism, suppressing 
dissent against mainland China and 
forcing residents to follow communist 
policies.

Zack Blumberg can be reached at 

zblumber@umich.edu.

As the west turns on China, Hong Kong’s future hangs in the balance

