16 November 2018
- RSIS
- Media Mentions
- As US-China Ties Sour, what will Happen to Hong Kong?
As US-China Ties Sour, what will Happen to Hong Kong?
The role that Hong Kong plays in the United States’ foreign policy is likely to come under greater scrutiny in the months ahead if ties between the US and China continue to deteriorate, political watchers said.
The US has long treated the territory differently than it did mainland China but there have been indications of late that Washington might change its stance.
Assistant Professor Evan Resnick, who is also coordinator of the US programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said Hong Kong’s “only salience (now) is in the realm of economics”, unlike during the Cold War where it also had “a geopolitical importance as a British protectorate”.
The city’s role in the world rose in the Korean War in the early 1950s – the peak of the Cold War – and was the window through which the West and China could gain insight to the other party.
GPO / IDSS / Online / Print
Last updated on 16/11/2018
