The way I view my home town, Hong Kong, has been expanded and deepen in these few weeks. In this essay I attempt to explore the networks which Hong Kong are engaged in, and how the city and the networks interact.

Hong Kong was foci of different commercial networks in each stage of its development. The harbor is the most important asset of Hong Kong; when the British first took it one hundred years ago, it was a fishing port, which it now remains to be. Half a century later it has become a commercial port, processing one of the largest flow of goods in and out of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) up till the very moment. In the last decade Hong Kong was well known as a financial capital, with one of the busiest stock market and numerous international corporation regional offices.

Yet a city is not just the container for all these commercial process; what happen inside the city does affect the process. For example, it has been proven that Hong Kong has the ability to affect the international financial market; at the very beginning of the Asia’s economic crisis, there are instances which the world’s stock markets crumbled after Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index. Furthermore, a city would have some additional effects and control over the processes. In the last several decades Hong Kong has established itself as the “gateway to China”. On one hand, compared to mainland China itself, Hong Kong can provide a better jurisdiction and better human capital to foreign companies; on the other hand, Hong Kong had for years been the only channel available to the enterprises in mainland China to raise capital in the international market. Thus Hong Kong was virtually a monopoly in China’s international financial market; it was the focus which every monetary force must pass through.

Socially, city is where people with different background mixed. Despite the large local Chinese population, there exists some notable diversity. First of all, over a hundred thousand foreign maids and workers, mainly from Philippines, served in the city. While they bring in totally different cultures and values into Hong Kong, they also generated huge amount of capital for their home countries. To them, Hong Kong is a city of capital. This may not be the case for others though; until the last decade illegal immigrants from Vietnam had been a major problem in Hong Kong. During the peak period tens of thousands of these Vietnamese resided in temporary houses provided by the government, and lived their life like locals. Ironically, the reason that motivated these people to go to Hong Kong is to ultimately leave it; most of them aimed for the United States. To them, Hong Kong is the step stone to freedom and protection in the western world. Recently illegal immigrants from mainland China, who are often children of Hong Kong resident, have replaced the Vietnamese as the major problem encountered by the government. These mainlanders aimed for family gathering, yet another goal different from the foreign workers and Vietnamese. Thus, depending on their background, Hong Kong is not the same place to different people; they do not stay for identical reason, nor do their work towards the same goal.

Political network is another interest aspect of Hong Kong. Because of the separation of Taiwan and mainland China, trade and travel between the two places can only be conducted mainly through Hong Kong. As the amount of commerce between the two states increases, Hong Kong has gain a significant position commercially and politically. Even in nowadays, to get from Taiwan to China or the other way round, one must stop at Hong Kong; the city acted as a neutral zone in these instances. In addition, the PRC government is using Hong Kong to demonstrate the “one-country, two-systems” ideology to Taiwan, in hope that one day the peace reunion of the two states will be possible.

Lastly, Hong Kong is also a place of multiple histories. Just as any other British colonies, British system and values has been overlaid on the local ones; and being one of the last few colonies of the British Empire, it witnessed the decline of it. Hong Kong’s history was ‘set’ in one sense—it was designated to be returned to the People’s Republic of China. But when that became reality, Hong Kong has extended its ‘own’ history—with much British influence—into the new administration. Thus Hong Kong did not truly belong to the British Empire in the past, nor do it now to the People’s Republic of China. It can be understood why Hong Kong had still seen itself as a regional center ruled by an alien empire until very recent. It would be erroneous though to say that Hong Kong has full control of its own future; the outcome we see today has been designed to work exactly this way. As the Government of PRC has reminded everyone, the “one-country, two-systems” ideology is ultimately intended for Taiwan; Hong Kong is just a demonstration of the ideology.

Reviewing my description of Hong Kong in the paragraphs about, I notice several differences. First of all, Hong Kong’s role as a node in the commercial world has been my dominant view before; this is the first time I tried to inspect other aspects of Hong Kong more carefully. In particular, I start to see Hong Kong as the focus for all these people from different social networks; and the history and political role of Hong Kong is also topics that I would like to investigate further. I believe that through studying these different networks I can have a better grasp of the dynamics of the city in this ever changing world.