From June 8 to 17, the York Centre for Asian Research is hosting the fourth annual Bernard H. K. Luk Memorial Lecture in Hong Kong Studies followed by the Hong Kong Beyond Hong Kong Symposium.
The Bernard H. K. Luk Memorial Lecture
Ho-fung Hung, the Henry M. and Elizabeth P. Wiesenfeld Professor in Political Economy at Johns Hopkins University, will present the lecture, titled “Chinese State Capitalism and Its Discontents in Hong Kong,” on Tuesday, June 8 from 10 a.m. to noon on Zoom.
Hong Kong’s political crisis today has been in the making for years, and Hung argues that it originates from the contradictions of the “one country, two systems” arrangement. Hong Kong and mainland China have been two independent members of the World Trade Organization, with different terms of membership. While China’s financial system is still semi-closed to the world, Hong Kong’s is fully open.
The U.S. and other developed countries treat Hong Kong as a separate entity on export, investment and immigration control, offering Hong Kong-based companies free access to their market and technology, conditional upon the international recognition of Hong Kong’s autonomy from Beijing. This lures Chinese state companies to use Hong Kong as an offshore platform or springboard for capitalization, outward investment, RMB internationalization and importation of sensitive technologies from Western countries. This results in the expansion of political influences of Chinese state companies and elites in Hong Kong, eroding Hong Kong’s autonomy and precipitating a social and political backlash long before the 2047 expiration date of the “one country, two systems” policy.
Lecture attendees must register by June 6 at yorku.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_zPH-I3xcQNyoBVvMGjd1zw. For more information about the lecture, visit ycar.apps01.yorku.ca/event/chinese-state-capitalism-discontents-hong-kong-hung.
The Hong Kong Beyond Hong Kong Symposium
Upon the fast-changing political economy environment of Hong Kong since the passing of the national security law, the symposium will examine how Hong Kong as a distinct society culturally, politically and economically can sustain moving forward within geographical Hong Kong and beyond. The panellists will explore new forms of contentious politics in alternative spaces, new visions and discourses in Hong Kong studies, and the implications of the Hong Kong experience for Canada and the wider world.
“We hope that the three panels will expand our imagination of contentious politics and spotlight the specific Hong Kong-Canada connections,” says York University Professor Yuk-Lin Renita Wong, Chair of the event’s organizing committee.
The symposium’s first panel, “Resistance and Contention: Identities, Connections, and Power” will take place on Thursday, June 10 from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Zoom. Attendees must register by June 8 at: yorku.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_hpGkXPg_T3SPaWTca7Kgsg. For more information about the panel, visit ycar.apps01.yorku.ca/event/hong-kong-beyond-hong-kong-symposium-panel-one.
The second panel, a roundtable conversation titled “Studying Hong Kong: The National Security Law and Beyond,” will take place on Tuesday, June 15 from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Zoom. Attendees must register by June 13 at: yorku.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_4ilwyGslS6GvmExXBETXwA. For more information about the panel, visit ycar.apps01.yorku.ca/event/hong-kong-beyond-hong-kong-symposium-panel-two.
The symposium’s third and final panel, titled “Hong Kong-Canada Relationships,” will take place on Thursday, June 17 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Zoom. Attendees must register by June 15 at: yorku.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_MrB3WVYAQ3-759BHqGDuFw. For more information about the panel, visit ycar.apps01.yorku.ca/event/ond-hong-kong-symposium-panel-three.
About the Bernard H. K. Luk Memorial Lecture and Symposium
A beloved teacher and colleague, Professor Bernard H. K. Luk (1946–2016) was an internationally recognized authority on the history of Hong Kong. Endowed by Luk’s friend and former student Vivienne Poy, the Bernard H. K. Luk Memorial Lecture in Hong Kong Studies was created in honour of his work. Organized by a group of Hong Kong scholars at York University, the lectures and accompanying events focus on Hong Kong as a distinct society, its influence on the wider world or the experiences of the Hong Kong diaspora.