2008-04-03

Across the Strait: The Impact of the Taiwan Elections

Zoher Abdoolcarim, the senior editor at Time magazine who was a guest in class last semester, recently wrote an essay on the Taiwan elections and the rise of Ma Ying-jeou, the island's new Hong Kong-born leader. Can Hong Kong learn anything from how Taiwan's politics have developed? Even though the "worst-case scenario" for Beijing happened - the election of the DPP's Chen Shui-bian - the sky didn't fall and the Taiwan Strait didn't become a war zone. Now, the Kuomintang are back in power. This is in many ways a more important milestone for Taiwan than Chen's election as President back in 2000.

2008-03-17

Amb. Harvey Feldman of the Heritage Foundation on Hong Kong

Ambassador Harvey Feldman of the Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based think tank, has written an analytical piece on Hong Kong in which he argues that Hong Kong is in trouble because political development has stalled. He concludes:

"Hong Kong seems to be in a box with shrinking walls. The box is shrinking economically for most of the population and politically because important issues are going unmentioned and certain voices are being ignored.

"When people wondered a dozen years go whether Hong Kong would become more like Shanghai, they were thinking in economic terms. In fact, Shanghai is moving ahead economically and with an élan and optimism that seem to be lacking in Hong Kong today. Where Hong Kong most resembles Shanghai is in a sense that nothing is happening politically and that reform and reformers have no where to go."

2008-01-22

"Ny-lon-kong"?

You may be interested in the latest edition of Time Asia which has a cover story focusing on New York, London and Hong Kong and "how these three connected cities drive the global economy." Also in the issue is an article on Hong Kong and its role in the global economy.

2008-01-04

POLI0019/POLI0068: Papers Available

I have deposited all the papers at the PPA Department office (622 Meng Wah). Please approach the counter staff at your convenience. I will be approaching some students with suggestions for polishing their editorials for submission to the SCMP or some other newspaper for publication.

Thanks to all for your hard work and participation during the semester!