Three changes Hong Kong must make to reap the rewards of the Asian century
To seize the opportunities presented by its unique regional and global position, Hong Kong must improve its Asian literacy, think imaginatively about how it can reach out to developing countries and shed the inward-looking trend among some Hongkongers
The Asian century is here. Containing roughly 60 per cent of the world’s population and contributing more than 42 per cent in purchasing power parity terms to global gross domestic product, Asia is well positioned to lead the 21st century as the focal point of economic and technological growth. As author Parag Khanna noted, the future is Asian.
Yet the differences among Asian nations and cultures mean Asia’s rise will not herald the dominance of a single ideology or power. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s respective visits to Beijing are signs of growing commercial and strategic interconnectivity between China and Southeast Asia. The latter was among the fastest-growing regions in the world last year.
Elsewhere, India’s balancing act between friendship with the West, its long-standing ties with Russia and deepening influence over the subcontinent has shown a vision of diplomacy that is unambiguously independent. India and Indonesia are developing increasing global salience as prominent regional powers.
Saudi Arabia and Iran rekindling diplomatic ties reflects Chinese efforts as well as the two nations’ own determination to shift away from long-standing regional tensions that have deterred investment and deepening of ties with mutual partners.
Asia is diverse and at times economically and strategically conflictual. If Hong Kong is to fully seize the opportunities afforded to us by Asia, we must undertake three fundamental transformations.
First, we must seek to improve our Asian literacy. This matters not only in the linguistic sense but also in terms of the cultural, economic and developmental needs of different Asian countries.
Let’s start with language. On the plus side, six foreign language subjects are already available for examination under the Diploma of Secondary Education – French, German, Hindi, Japanese, Spanish and Urdu. But what of Indonesian, which is spoken by more than 185 million people worldwide, or other major Asian languages?
Interest in learning Korean is surging amid the rise in popularity of Korean television, films and music, but it is not among the foreign language subjects available under the Diploma of Secondary Education. Photo: Shutterstock
Moreover, language proficiency does not come purely from rote learning. Hong Kong universities and secondary schools should invest in subsidised exchange programmes and community-building through virtual and digital platforms to strengthen bonds with their counterparts throughout Asia.
The Hong Kong government should reach out to and coordinate with the business community and public sector in economies in Southeast Asia and the Middle East to offer internship opportunities and regular study tours for Hong Kong youth who are keen to work and live abroad.
Beyond matters of language, however, there must be a greater recognition of what Hong Kong can and should do within Asia. Such reflections do not come through top-down instruction, but through structured, open-ended teaching as a part of the formal curriculum in high school and the general education or “common core” programme at the undergraduate level.
Capstone research projects focusing on macro Asian trends such as the green energy transition, increasing multipolarity, and the rise of home-grown innovation and research and development should be a core part of students’ formative experiences.
Fresh graduates take photos on the University of Hong Kong campus in December 2022. At the high school and university level, Hong Kong’s education sector can help strengthen young people’s awareness of macro Asian trends. Photo: Dickson Lee
Second, we must think imaginatively about how we can add value to the regional integration and institutional transformation of developing countries. Hong Kong has stayed too long within its comfort zone of largely focusing on economically developed states, under the implicit assumption that the city is the sole bridge between China and the West.
Increasingly acrimonious US-China relations make it essential for us to diversify. Hong Kong must position itself as both a gateway and enhancer for Asian businesses seeking to enter mainland China, and, reciprocally, Chinese firms as they venture beyond the country’s borders.
Specifically, we should build our capacities in Islamic finance by importing talent from the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Doing so can position Hong Kong as an alternative asset management hub to Dubai and Singapore for high-net-worth families in the Middle East and Southeast Asia respectively.
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Paul Chan woos Middle East companies to visit Hong Kong in 2023 to explore listing opportunities
Paul Chan woos Middle East companies to visit Hong Kong in 2023 to explore listing opportunities
We should also expand our direct settlement links with other financial centres within Asia beyond our current partnerships with Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. This can be a means of bolstering mainland Chinese investment into the rest of Asia.
To be a true regional financial hub, we must make ourselves useful to all Asian states and people. Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing’s recent easing of technology listing rules is a positive sign of a proactive attitude to catering to promising, innovative start-ups. We must do more to encourage the listing of the issuance of government bonds for rapidly growing economies across Asia.
Our professional services sector serves as a leading example of ecosystem building for Asian economies looking to undertake the transition towards a digital and knowledge economy. In sharing our expertise, we would also be cultivating Hong Kong’s soft power and leverage abroad.
Finally, a shift in our thinking is long overdue. The past decade has seen a dangerous inward-looking turn among some Hongkongers. Legitimate grievances over socioeconomic inequality and limited social mobility gradually morphed into a perilous strain of localism, endangering Hong Kong’s relationship with Beijing.
At the other extreme, the yearning for greater integration with mainland China has brewed an increasingly toxic mindset that pits integration with the mainland as antithetical to the Hong Kong’s long-standing values of openness, multiculturalism and embracing difference.
Hong Kong is a part of China, yet its value to the country stems from its ability to project a different side of China to the rest of Asia. Our government, business and civil society leaders must live up to our pledge to be “Asia’s World City”. After all, the times, they are a-changin’.
Brian Wong is a DPhil in Politics candidate at Balliol College and teaches politics at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar (Hong Kong 2020)
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