ABSTRACT
This chapter provides the development of the democracy movement in Hong Kong, in relation to changing identities towards China and Hong Kong, and shows how identity politics and the democracy movement interacted in different periods of Hong Kong history. The lack of a Hong Kong identity was an important underlying reason for the low level of political participation and democratic demands in postwar colonial Hong Kong, where there were no meaningful elections and little welfare protection. The Sino-British kicked off a process of decolonization and very gradual democratization in Hong Kong. At the societal level, the early post-1997 period saw the rise of a form of “pragmatic patriotism” in Hong Kong. With increased economic integration with China, more experience of travelling and engaging with China, and patriotic propaganda in Hong Kong, more Hong Kong people had a stronger identification with China.
