Inside Track
WHEN THE Gulf War erupted a decade ago, it almost seemed that Hong Kong and the mainland were on opposite sides of the conflict.
Not that Beijing openly backed Baghdad, despite its long-standing ties - and arms sales - to Saddam Hussein's regime. But China made little secret of its unhappiness at the American-led army and its use of overwhelming firepower to drive Iraqi forces from Kuwait.
Beijing was also the only permanent member of the United Nations Security Council not to back the crucial resolution authorising this, although it reluctantly abstained instead of voting against it.
By contrast, Hong Kong seemed unequivocally behind the United States and its Western allies. Locally based British troops were dispatched to help retake Kuwait, and legislators overwhelmingly approved $230 million to fund logistical and other support services for the international force.
But the world has changed greatly in the subsequent decade, and Hong Kong and all of China with it. So when extremists in the Middle East once again carried out a horrific act last week, what was more striking this time were the similarities - rather than the differences - in the reactions of what are now two parts of the same country.
China is vastly different from what it was in 1991, and from many mainlanders who visit the US, it was grimly inevitable that some would be among the thousands killed in the terrorist assault on the World Trade Centre. Increasing access to world news via the Internet and a more freewheeling domestic media also meant the full horror of the attack was carried directly into homes across the nation.
That perhaps was reflected in the speed with which President Jiang Zemin offered his condolences, even if his words were less heartfelt than those of other world leaders. A more crucial test will come when the US retaliates against Osama bin Laden and his Afghan backers, who are thought to be behind Tuesday's attack.
But it seems improbable that Beijing will object to such use of American firepower in terms as strong as it would have done a decade earlier. Already, some top US politicians are confidently listing China among allies who would support such retaliation. Correct or not, that idea would have been unthinkable in 1991.
And as Beijing's response to the acts of Middle East extremists becomes more similar to that of most of the rest of the world, Hong Kong's reaction - perhaps inevitably - becomes more similar to that of the rest of China.
That is not just because now that Hong Kong is no longer a British colony, there is no question of SAR-based troops being sent to join any American-led force, as in 1991. Arguably, more subtle forces are at work.
In contrast to the almost unquestioning support for US foreign policy during the Gulf War, this time more diverse views have been emerging.
These are always prefaced by sympathy for the victims and reiterations that nothing can excuse such terrorism, but in radio phone-in shows, letters to the Post and even mainstream newspaper editorials, some have argued that the US must think carefully about how its aggressive foreign policy has stirred up the hatred that lies behind these attacks.
Even if that is still a minority view in the SAR, it is one more reminiscent of Beijing, with its perennial suspicion of American foreign policy. It raises the possibility that, subtly and perhaps almost imperceptibly, Hong Kong might be drawing a little closer to the rest of China in how it views the US and the rest of the world.
Danny Gittings is the Post's Editorial Pages Editor
