Ties to China

Just as in Taiwan, which has its own democratic government but is claimed by China, Beijing is losing the battle for the hearts and minds of young people in Hong Kong.

The number of Hong Kongers describing their identity as Chinese alone dropped from a high of 39% just before the Beijing Olympics in the summer of 2008 to 18% in December, according to surveys by the University of Hong Kong.

During the same period, the proportion identifying themselves as a Hong Konger has jumped from 18% to 40%.

The trend towards a separate Hong Kong identity is more pronounced among those aged under 30, the data show.

After failing to pressure Beijing into giving Hong Kong genuine democracy, some young protesters have increased their demands and are calling for a referendum on Hong Kong’s future or even independence.

“We don’t just want universal suffrage but self- determination so we can decide the future of Hong Kong,” says Agnes Chow, a 19- year- old student who helped lead the Occupy movement.

Edward Leung, another student, helps run HK Indigenous, one of several small, radical groups that are pushing for a more confrontational approach to Beijing and the Hong Kong government. “We want to resist the recolonialization of Hong Kong by the Chinese Communist party,” he says.

Mr. Leung says young people must be willing to fight back against the authorities, but the 24- year- old philosophy student, who looks more like a bookworm than a revolutionary, is also pursuing more conventional means, standing in a by-election next month for the legislative council.

His party has only 70 members but he hopes to use the election to spread his message of opposition to Beijing.

“Our generation, the post1990s generation, is rising and in future we will be the ones in charge,” he says.