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an age of cosmopolitanization because global risks cannot be properly managed by
a single nation-state in world-risk society. Transnational curiosity, empathy, and
cooperation are necessary to deal with global risks, and social developments have
been inevitably transnationalized. In accordance with this argument, employing the
concept of transnationality, which stresses both the national self and the global oth-
ers, is necessary, and more empirical studies are needed to uncover and indicate
signs that cosmopolitanization truly exists (Beck 2006 ).
Based on Beck’s thesis, this study examines whether and how the research com-
munity on higher education in Hong Kong has been transnationalized in its strategic
management of research networks and practices. This chapter presents data on the
trends in HER in Hong Kong that empirically examines the relevance of the ideas of
cosmopolitanism and cosmopolitanization to the development of the field. In addi-
tion, given the specific background of Hong Kong where it was initially a British
colony and is now a SAR of China, this chapter also uses the terms “intranational”
and “intranationalization” to describe and conceptualize the intensification of inte-
gration between Hong Kong and China. Before starting the analysis, it is useful to
provide a brief history of Hong Kong with a specific focus on the development of its
higher education sector and of the field of HER in the territory during the last three
decades.
Higher Education Development in Hong Kong, 1984–2014
Higher education in Hong Kong is special because of the historical background and
the position of the city, which had been under the British colonial rule for over
150 years. China resumed the sovereignty of Hong Kong in 1997, and thereafter the
city became a SAR, which maintains its capitalist system, and enjoys autonomy
under the “One Country, Two Systems” principle. The higher education system in
Hong Kong is clearly established based largely on the British system because of its
colonial history. According to Lin ( 2009 ), the establishment of the University of
Hong Kong (HKU), the only government-funded, recognized university in the terri-
tory until 1963, carried a mission of extending the cultural influence of Britain to
China and Asia. This connects university education in Hong Kong with British cul-
tural colonialism.
Hong Kong underwent the first wave of higher education expansion during the
transitional period (1984–1997). The higher education system expanded mainly
through granting of several postsecondary education institutions with a university
status. Consequently, eight publicly funded institutions obtained a self-accreditation
status, and the participation rate for undergraduates aged between 17 years and
20 years surged in government-funded programs from 2% in the 1970s to 18% dur-
ing this expansion wave (UGC 1996 ). The second wave of higher education expan-
sion began after 1997. Compared to colonial rule, the SAR government put more
emphasis on the importance of internationalization. For example, in 1997, the
government planned to increase the proportion of nonlocal students to 4% at the
W.Y.W. Lo and F.S.K. Ng