> Do you think citizens of Hong Kong would choose the Chinese rule of today, or go back to British rule if they could?

I think the people that lived there in 1997 would absolutely want to go back to British rule. But you have to remember that it's been nearly 30 years since it went to Chinese rule. All the young people there prefer Chinese rule, because they grew up with schools teaching them that the British were bad and the Chinese were good.

And at the same time, the most pro-British people left, either going to the USA or Canada, or actually taking advantage of the UKs right-to-return programs and going to the UK itself.

So if you asked the people who lived there today, they majority say they prefer Chinese rule.

My prediction is that they will no longer operate as an SEZ within the decade and will be folded fully into China.

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CorrectHorseBat 6 days ago | parent [-]

I don't think so, did you forget about the Umbrella Movement?

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jedberg 6 days ago | parent [-]

That was over a decade ago. There is almost an entire generation that has come up since then, being told China is good and British is bad. And in the meantime China made protesting illegal, and now rounds up and ships off anyone who protests.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/28/i-was-so-naive...

But more importantly, it's more complicated than just China good/bad:

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/12/05/how-peopl...

However what that shows is that the majority of adults in HK (74%) feel an attachment to China, and in the meantime China is making it illegal to disagree with them.

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CorrectHorseBat 6 days ago | parent [-]

>That was over a decade ago.

You make me feel old

>In June 2019, millions took to the streets again in massive pro-democracy protests.

This was only 6 years ago.

>Hong Kongers ages 35 and older are more likely than their younger counterparts to feel very close to China.

That's the exact opposite of what you claim.

I agree they'll likely succeed in the end but they have not yet made HK just another part of China.

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jedberg 6 days ago | parent [-]

> You make me feel old

I watched the changeover live on TV in my 20s. :)

>> Hong Kongers ages 35 and older are more likely than their younger counterparts to feel very close to China.

> That's the exact opposite of what you claim.

No, it's not. What I said was young people have been growing up with propaganda, and of the people who were there for the changeover and remember it (people over 35), the ones who don't like China have left the country because they could. The ones under 35 (well technically 28) don't have that option, because you had to be born before the changeover to get the British citizenship, which is what lets you easily move to Canada, Australia, and lots of other places.

Which would mean that those over 35 that are still there are the ones that were already pro-China. So that tracks with the data.

In other words, China is indoctrinating the youth and the people who have to option to leave and hate China are leaving, so only the people that love China or were indoctrinated by it are left behind.

	▲	CorrectHorseBat 6 days ago \| parent [-]
		That's a possible explanation, but I'm not completely convinced it is without numbers. Maybe it's those under 35 who don't remember the bad of the British rule? But even then, less than 50% of people under 35 call themselves Chinese (not even both Hong Konger and Chinese). And half of the adults call China a major threat, 22% a minor threat. Those are pretty bad numbers for indoctrination.