The Economist - USA (2021-12-18)

8 Holiday specials The Economist December 18th 2021

der.TonyLamchosetostudyonthemainlandbecause

hehasfamilythereandtuitionisabouta quarterwhat

it isinHongKong.Hehopestofinda jobinadvertising

orpublicrelationswhenhegraduates.“Therearea lot

morejobsinthemainland.”MrLamsaysthepasttwo

yearsofpandemicandprotestshave“provedthesu­

periority of the mainland system”. Several of his

friendswhoarealsopursuinguniversityinmainland

Chinawereencouragedbytheirparentstodoso.

Someparentsrejecttheideathattheregime’scon­

trolisinevitableor,atleast,permanent.RachelLeung

ishomeschoolingherdaughterona smallfarmbe­

causeshewantshertohavea connectiontotheland

andtohavetimetoplay—andbecauseshewantstoin­

sulate her fromChina’s influence. “The partywill

eventuallyfall,”shesays.“When?I don’tknow.Maybe

20 or 50 yearsfromnow.Andwhenit does,whatskills

willourchildren,ourgrandchildren,needtothrive?”

Shepausesaschildrencoveredinmudfromplanting

ricerunby,thenliststhequalitiesthatshethinksthey

willneed.“Awillingnesstocommunicate,theability

to persuade and compromise, empathy and love,

knowinghowtolistendeeply.Therewillbeanendto

thisdarkness.Fornow,wecan’tdoanythingbig.But

wecandosmallthingslikeraiseourchildrenwiththis

futureinmind.”

lessonslearned

MsLeungmayberight.ButtheChinesegovernment

hasplentyofpracticeinmouldingyoungminds.In

1989,attheheightofpro­democracyprotestsinChina,

hundredsofthousandsofpeoplepiledintoTianan­

menSquare.LiMing’sfatherwasoneofthem.Afterthe

massacre,hemadehiswaybacktohishometownto

jointhecivilservice.Whenthepartyrolledoutitspa­

trioticeducationcampaign,MrLiwasoneoftensof

millionsofstudentswhoweresubjectedtoit.

“Myfathertaughtmetoneversayanythinginpub­

licthatcouldgetmeintotrouble,”hesays.“Hetaught

me,aboveeverythingelse,toprotectmyself.It isa very

pragmaticapproachtolifeinChina:itisthewayto

survive.” Buthis father also boughthim whatever

bookshecouldfind.HepushedMrLitothinkforhim­

selfbyobservingsocietyandthepeoplearoundthem.

WhenMrLimovedtoHongKongforuniversity,hisfa­

therwarnedhim:“Beverycarefulwhatyousay.Butal­

waysremember:thinkforyourself.”

ManyinHongKongfearthenextgenerationwillbe

likethepost­TiananmengenerationinmainlandChi­

na.Theyexpectthecurriculumtochangesomuchthat

the government’s campaign of indoctrination may

succeed.Still,therearereasonsHongKongmayhold

out.Becauseitisalreadyadvanced,theparty’sdeal

withthemainland—ofeconomicgrowthinexchange

forpoliticalsubmission—doesnotapply.Andsofar,

unlikeinmainlandChina,thegovernmenthasnotre­

strictedinternetaccess.

ButthepasttwoyearsinHongKonghaveshown

howwellthepartyunderstandspowerandhowruth­

lesslyitwillwieldit.MrLimaycontinuetothinkfor

himself,buthehasabsorbedthelessonhisfatherdrew

fromTiananmen.Hehasreturnedhomeandisprepar­

ingforhiscivil­serviceexaminations,withaneyeto

becominga localpropagandaofficial.n

get to grips with reality and start thinking about how

to best prepare their kids for this future.”

Within Hong Kong, the influence of the mainland

is  felt  everywhere.  Step  out  at  lunchtime  during  the

week and you are likely to hear conversations in Man­

darin  nearly  as  frequently  as  Cantonese,  the  dialect

traditionally  spoken  in  Hong  Kong.  Hong  Kongers

used to act as a bridge between China and the West. A

few decades ago, many rushed to the mainland to set

up factories or to run the Chinese branches of multina­

tionals. Increasingly, these jobs are going to mainland

Chinese who speak fluent English and have graduated

from Ivy League universities or Oxbridge. Many com­

panies want staff who not only speak the language of

the clients they are pursuing but also watch the same

films and gossip about the same celebrities.

Ms Lau, who bought her son the police toys, works

in financial technology. “I manage a lot of mainlanders

who  have  moved  to  Hong  Kong  for  work.  They  work

harder,  stay  later  and  are  more  ambitious  and  thick­

skinned.  There  is  no  way  a  local  Hong  Konger  on  my

team can compete with them. The Hong Kong compet­

itive advantage is gone.” She may not embrace the de­

mocracy  movement,  but  she  is  not  happy  about  the

changes  in  the  curriculum.  “When  I  was  growing  up,

we were taught to think at school. Now, it’s a joke.” She

adds  of  her  son,  “Not  only  is  he  not  going  to  learn

about what really happened in Tiananmen Square, but

he  is  also  not  going  to  be  competitive  against  main­

land Chinese his age when he enters the workforce.”

Hong Kong is one of 11 cities being merged into the

Greater Bay Area, a signature plan of China’s president,

Xi Jinping, which covers an area of nearly 90m people

with an economy larger than Australia’s. Shenzhen is

at the centre. Hong Kong’s primary role will be to pro­

vide  Chinese  companies  with  a  way  to  raise  money

from  abroad.  Faced  with  this  future,  some  wealthy

Hong  Kongers  are  sending  their  children  to  private

schools  which  teach  in  Mandarin  and  English.  “My

children  can  pick  up  Cantonese  on  the  street.  I  don’t

care if they aren’t fluent,” says one Hong Kong father

whose private­equity firm mostly invests in mainland

China. He and his wife speak Mandarin at home.

More  and  more  high­school  graduates  from  Hong

Kong are choosing to attend university across the bor­

.................................................................................

Some names were changed to protect individuals

featured in this story.

Many in Hong

Kong fear the

next generation

will be like the

post-Tiananmen

generation in

mainland China