ABSTRACT
This chapter compares the building of national identity in postcolonial Macao and Hong Kong. Their former colonial rulers never seriously built national identities of any sorts in the two city-states. After the retrocession of the sovereignty to China, the governments of the two Special Administrative Regions (hereafter SARs) are pursuing the reintegration of the people to the national identity of China as the people in both Macao and Hong Kong have not yet identified themselves fully with the mainland. They are conscious of the distinction between their mainland Chinese counterparts and themselves, and between the mainland and their home city. The success of building a state-defined national identity in these two city-states is contingent on the strength of local identities as much as political elites' intentional efforts. Macao identity is weaker than Hong Kong identity; Hong Kong identities contrast considerably with the Chinese national identity on the views towards civil liberty, legal concepts and linguistic culture. Behind the contrasts are the effectiveness of the colonial governance and the vibrancy of the mass media (together with the pop culture created).
