ABSTRACT

We have discussed in the last two chapters how Hong Kong senses of national identity are being molded by the mass media and by the educational system in Hong Kong; but we have yet to fully examine how Hong Kong people comprehend their new national identities. This and the following two chapters examine Hong Kong people’s perceptions of their new national identity, first in terms of a number of broad surveys as well as focused interviews of a few Hong Kong people at large (this chapter), then in terms of how Hong Kong university students understand their national identities as compared to university students from mainland China and the United States (Chapter 7), and then through an examination of Hong Kong people’s interactions in south China, in the country that is their new national home (Chapter 8). These three chapters enable us to understand in different yet interlocking ways how senses of national identity are being shaped in Hong Kong today.