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Opinion | Hong Kong needs its own student exchange scheme to help young people develop a pan-Asian identity
- The EU’s Erasmus exchange programme has built unity and a sense of belonging among young Europeans
- A similar scheme with Asean would encourage closer ties while allowing Hong Kong’s youth to look beyond the mainland for opportunities to work and study
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During his speech marking the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to China, President Xi Jinping said “Hong Kong will thrive only when its young people thrive”. His words underscore Beijing’s expectation that new Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu will look beyond his predecessors’ “business as usual” approach to the city’s discontented youth, who were the driving force of the 2019 protests.
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Youth dissatisfaction in Hong Kong primarily stems from a difference in ideology and lack of opportunities. Meaningfully addressing the former under the national security law would be near impossible. Therefore, efforts to address the latter must succeed.
The new administration’s youth strategy seems to hinge on helping young people gain employment and entrepreneurship opportunities on the mainland.
While in theory this may be encouraging, officials should prepare for the possibility that many of the city’s youth, despite being offered financial incentives, still feel reluctant to explore employment and entrepreneurship opportunities across the border.
It does not help that those who have gone to the mainland have had a difficult experience due to pandemic restrictions. Failing to provide attractive alternatives to the mainland could further accelerate the exodus of Hong Kong’s youth, especially as it is becoming easier to access Western alternatives as other nations choose to open up and live with Covid-19.
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BN(O) passport holders flee Hong Kong for new life in the UK, fearing Beijing’s tightening control
BN(O) passport holders flee Hong Kong for new life in the UK, fearing Beijing’s tightening control
Unless the new administration does not mind losing its home-grown talent, other options that avoid inflaming Beijing’s national security concerns need to be introduced as soon as possible.
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