On Reflection | Forget history lessons, in age of Facebook here’s why Hong Kong’s young are turning their backs on Beijing
The controversy over the swearing-in of two localists to Hong Kong’s Legislative Council, which culminated in Beijing stepping in to interpret Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, has sparked a wave of soul-searching and a barrage of questions. Is the anti-mainland passion of the pair representative of young Hongkongers? Nineteen years since the handover, why does a seemingly growing number of young people in Hong Kong show such disrespect, hatred even, towards China and the Chinese people?
Many, especially those from older generations, were shocked when Sixtus Baggio Leung Chung-hang and Yau Wai-ching from Youngspiration, a localist group founded after the Occupy protests, pronounced China as “Chee-na” – a variation of the derogatory “Shina” used by Japanese during the second world war – during their swearing-in at Legco on October 12.
To add insult to injury, the pair pledged allegiance to the “Hong Kong nation” and displayed a banner with the words “Hong Kong is not China”. Yet, on Facebook, some young people gave them thumbs-up for daring to take on Beijing.
Since the Occupy protests, some in the pro-establishment camp have blamed an inadequate understanding of Chinese history among youngsters for their embrace of civil disobedience.