More than eight years after the handover many of us, including most of our government officials, still regard Hong Kong as an island in the Pacific Ocean. In other words, on the maps in government offices, the area north of the Shenzhen River is a complete blank.
In their minds, they want to dissociate Hong Kong from the mainland so that, in effect, we have nothing to do with it. This isolationist mentality is being aided by the complete non-interference policy of the central government. It was championed by Anson Chan Fang On-sang, then chief secretary.
This obviously did not work, and in time became the major conflict between her and chief executive Tung Chee-hwa, who believed in economic integration with the mainland. After Mrs Chan's retirement and a long period of deflation, integration has replaced isolationism as the new official paradigm, culminating in the signing of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement on July 1, 2003. With it began the economic recovery that has lasted until today.
Both isolationism and integration stemmed from a self-centred Hong Kong mentality. Mrs Chan wanted to isolate us from the mainland because she felt nothing good would come from the poor, backward and autocratic communist regime. On the other hand, Mr Tung thought economic integration was our only course for future development.
From an egotistical 'what's in it for me' mindset, we welcomed the influx of tourists, the zero-duty entry of our products to the mainland, and the lowering of entry barriers for our enterprises and professionals.
When it was announced at the second pan-Pearl River Delta forum in Chengdu on July 25 that co-operation with Hong Kong and Macau will be incorporated into the 11th five-year plan starting next year, few could fully comprehend the significance.
