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Wang Gungwu
Wang Gungwu
Wang Gungwu is University Professor at the National University of Singapore and Professor Emeritus of the Australian National University. He was vice-chancellor of the University of Hong Kong from 1986 to 1995.

As the People’s Republic turns 70, sinologist and historian Wang Gungwu delves deep into ancient history to illustrate how modern China, from Mao Zedong to Deng Xiaoping to Xi Jinping, has followed a continuous rather than contradictory path. Wang was speaking at the launch of ThinkChina magazine in Singapore.

As the People’s Republic turns 70, the idea of reform is favoured, but for centuries it was regarded as doomed to fail, says sinologist Wang Gungwu at the launch of ThinkChina magazine.

China Reconnects: Joining a Deep-rooted Past to a New World Order, by Australian historian Wang Gungwu, looks at how the Middle Kingdom is trying to build a modern civilisation without forgetting its heritage.

In an extract from his memoir ‘Home is Not Here’, one of the world’s foremost scholars on Chinese civilisation recalls visiting the country as a student – and witnessing the establishment of Mao Zedong’s China

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Even under British rule, Hongkongers saw themselves as Chinese. ‘One country, two systems’ thus reflects the city’s experience of not being separate from China while providing a safe place for dissent. 

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Hong Kong in China, and China in Hong Kong, have long been part of a larger story. The story did not begin with the handover in 1997. Its roots go back to when Hong Kong was a small island to be ceded without much pain.