Controversies in Hong Kong's political transition: Nationalism versus liberalism

This chapter analyses the debates on citizenship education which took place just before the handover of Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty. The citizenship education debate shows how much education was at the centre of the political debate in relation to Hong Kong’s future directions after the handover. The chapter shows the polarization between democracy/human rights, and nationalism/patriotism, which are not necessarily mutually exclusive. It also shows how politically pluralistic Hong Kong became at its critical time of sovereignty transfer, not only in the variety of political positions but also in the variety of perspectives in speculating Hong Kong’s future. Some were optimistic but others were pessimistic; and some saw convergence with China but others saw divergence. In addition to providing a historical documentation on the debates taking place at a critical time of political transition in Hong Kong, this chapter adds to the international literature on decolonization. The case of Hong Kong is quite special, although not entirely unique, in its being integrated into the mother country rather than independence after its decolonization. Copyright © 2001 Comparative Education Research Centre, The University of Hong Kong.