This old Chinese trading port can teach Hong Kong all about silk roads, and about tolerance
Openness and diversity come hand in hand with cross-border trade. As rancour and division grow in the city, that is worth remembering
During a recent visit to Quanzhou, a booming business city in Fujian province, I was struck by a sudden realisation. If Hong Kong can claim to be “Asia’s world city” with its reputation as a meeting point for East and West, then this seaport facing the Taiwan Strait could have justifiably laid claim to the title of “China’s world city” hundreds of years ago, as the starting point of the old maritime silk route.
Indeed, our city needs to study more, and clarify, what part it can play in this China-initiated strategic plan to open up international trade along a new silk route.
Major discussions have so far only focused on the plan’s business and geopolitical perspectives, with little attention paid to the impact in terms of shaping the diversified culture which, history tells us, comes with booming cross-border trade.
In this regard, Quanzhou’s history is quite telling. Many Hongkongers may know little of this port, but the politically and economically influential “Fujian clan” in our city is well known.