On March 15, 2017, the Global Taiwan Institute hosted Richard Bush for a discussion about his newest book, Hong Kong in the Shadow of China (Brookings). With his extensive background and expertise in US relations with Taiwan and the PRC, Bush was adept at drawing out the ways in which Beijing’s current policies and approach towards Hong Kong have implications for the future of cross-Strait relationship, and the region.
Hong Kong in the Shadow of China is a reflection on the recent political turmoil in Hong Kong during which the Chinese government insisted on gradual movement toward electoral democracy, and hundreds of thousands of protesters occupied major thoroughfares to push for full democracy now. Fueling this struggle is deep public resentment over growing inequality and how the political system—established by China and dominated by the local business community—reinforces the divide been those who have profited immensely and those who struggle for basics such as housing.
Richard Bush, director of the Brookings Institution’s Center on East Asia Policy Studies, takes us inside the demonstrations and the demands of the demonstrators and then pulls back to critically explore what Hong Kong and China must do to ensure both economic competitiveness and good governance and the implications of Hong Kong developments for United States policy.