The role of identity in subnational regional integration: the case of Hong Kong in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area Scheme

• Main Author: Chen, Danyu
• Other Authors: -
• Format: Thesis-Master by Coursework
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2022
• Subjects: Social sciences::Political science
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/156979
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Despite the clear economic benefits of regional integration with mainland China, public opinion in Hong Kong remains relatively negative regarding the present regional integration attempt, namely the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area Scheme. Why are they resistant to this further integration, and how does identity contribute to this resistance? This dissertation will adopt a case study method to focus on this issue. It seeks to analyse the rationale behind this negative public perception, particularly the relationship between identity and regional integration at the subnational level. By examining both classical theories of international studies and empirical evidence in Hong Kong, it claims that the current regional integration attempt has been resisted due to its threats to Hong Kong's unstable and hybrid identity. Further analysis reveals that a “common consciousness” needs to be created to establish a more stable Chinese ethnicity-based identity in Hong Kong, which is found to be largely linked with the public’s faith in the “One Country, Two Systems” policy under a regression analysis. In this way, this study suggests that identity should be taken more into account in the subnational regional integration plans like the current Greater Bay Area Scheme in Hong Kong. It provides a novel political-social perspective not only for regional integration in China at the subnational level, but also for the role of identity under globalization and its impact on economic cooperation at the regional level.