Hong Kong Independence: Is it a Thing?
The sight of colonial flags at recent protests has some fanciful pundits imagining the city has an “independence movement,” and some Beijing loyalists fantasizing about how they would squash it.
Hong Kong independence is not a practical, or even feasible, notion. There’s no proper organized movement in its name. But there is indeed a group of people who have seized the language of independence, and the symbols it might use—as well as symbols of the colonial past, like the British-Hong Kong flag—to air their discontent about our city’s governance and their worries about the future. On the other side of the issue, mainland Chinese loyalists have found an angle they can exploit (“Hongkongers are dissenting like crazy, to the point of advocating separatism!”) to build support for their own legislative agendas, even raising the specter of Article 23 again.
Hong Kong is no stranger to protests, rallies and demonstrations. But the recent sightings of the British-Hong Kong flags at local protests have stirred up a new wave of controversy, especially after top Beijing officials noted the trend with disdain. We’ve sought perspectives from both sides—a flag-waver and a pro-China detractor—in order to understand what a Hong Kong independence movement means, and whether it’s even a real cause for concern at all.
Check out a timeline charting the roots of the pro-independence movement: The Freedom Trail
Your Flags: We asked residents to come up with what the flag of an independent Hong Kong would look like. Check out it here.
Grace Tsoi talks to a protestor who uses the symbol of old Hong Kong to get his voice heard, and a staunch pro-Beijing critic of flag-wavers, to determine where the battle lines lie.
WHO’S WHO
Flag-Flying Protester: