Status Anxiety: Hong Kong’s Crisis of Identity

Abstract

In this book, retired banking CEO Bruce VonCannon considers the past, present and future of Hong Kong, the dynamic finance-driven autonomous city that is beset by global issues- US-China tension, income inequality, housing scarcity, climate change- within the microcosm of a small island archipelago and a hyper-specific local culture. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is today one of the world’s foremost economic and financial hubs and a repository for 18% of the world’s stored wealth, home to the region’s most vibrant stock market, a major free trade port city and traditional gateway to mainland China, the world’s 2nd largest economy. The recent street protests which broke out in June 2019 have been described as a pro-democracy movement. However, other analysts disagree and argue that the street protests have more in common with the populist movements springing up in other parts of the world as the result of a growing divide between rich and poor. This book delves into financial realities, Hong Kong’s position within the new global competition between China and the United States, and as a model for the urbanization of the future.