My Take | Hong Kong is not Taiwan, that’s the reality
- Misguided youngsters who say city is separate from mainland have been failed by their elders, not Beijing, and as members of a lost generation are rightfully angry
Our millennials like to say: “Hong Kong is not China.” We all know what they mean, even though its grammatical meanings allow for ambiguity so as to deny charges of separatism. But what they really mean is pure fantasy.
Here’s the reality, though it is understandably hard for such people to swallow: “Hong Kong is not Taiwan.”
There is no Taiwan Strait to separate the two sides, with the island armed to the teeth, and protected by a United States security guarantee to defend it in the event of it being attacked.
Hong Kong is completely connected to the rest of China through land, air and sea. Even the US recognises Hong Kong as a part of China. There is no scenario under which the city could lead a separate existence, however you define it, from the mainland. Or rather, there is a single scenario: national collapse and/or foreign invasion.
In that case, Hong Kong would not fare well, either.