Hong Konger Identity and the Global 1980s

The idea of Hong Kong as a distinctly ‘global’ city has been de rigueur since at least the turn of the century. In 2001, as part of a rebranding exercise, the Hong Kong government began marketing itself as ‘Asia's world city’. From the Hong Kong government's perspective, this branding has taken on such themes as tourism, education, and even international arbitration services, as well as the city's reputation as a leading financial centre. At the same time, several studies of contemporary Hong Kong have taken the city's global status as a key interpretive theme. ¹ Such studies often emphasise, above all, Hong Kong's position in international finance, most importantly as a site of capital flows between mainland China and the outside world. ² Before China's opening to the global economy after the late 1970s, this role had been particularly important, with Hong Kong serving as the location, in David Clayton's words, of a new ‘Canton System’. ³ As a financial centre, the post-1949 period was particularly formative. In the interwar period Hong Kong was, in Robert Bickers' words, a ‘backwater’, far less significant than Shanghai. ⁴ With the establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the closing of the mainland Chinese economy, Hong Kong's status outside PRC control and its commitment to free trade and capital movement elevated the British colony and positioned it to benefit from the eventual opening of China.