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I spent most of my time at home with my back facing the border because I lived facing the sea. My father, born and raised in China, raised me Chinese. Speaking fluent Chinese, I grew comfortable in my identity as a Chinese person. Meanwhile, my mother, born and raised in Hong Kong, betrayed her native tongue of Cantonese in favour of teaching me English (she feared I would develop an accent). Nonetheless, I grew up under the influence of Hong Kong culture, not paying much attention to the other “home” that existed behind me. Despite the government instilling the “one country, two systems” policy after British colonialism, the Hong Kong-China border represents more than a difference in political systems. Though I am now old enough to understand the economic and political intentions behind instilling a physical border, the child in me, created from both sides, wonders why a country that demands sameness from both sides still upholds a physical boundary creating distinct landmasses between the two. In Hong Kong, the border is less of a physical boundary, but a symbolic area that splits China and Hong Kong into different pieces to deny the strong political influence that China holds over Hong Kong.

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Picture of Carrie Lam, former Chief Executive of Hong Kong, active during the 2019-2020 Hong Kong Protests

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Picture of Carrie Lam, former Chief Executive of Hong Kong, active during the 2019-2020 Hong Kong Protests

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If our government could be completely honest, I wonder what Carrie Lam could have said. As the first female Chief Executive of Hong Kong, Lam became a laughingstock when she seemingly could not handle the consequences of the protests and other political instability. In a leaked audio recording of Lam, she said that she would “quit if she could”, but that there was “very, very, very limited” room for political manoeuvres because of Beijing. In Hong Kong, the border does not really mean anything when Beijing’s influence seeps into our political figures. Through her social work, in college Lam met one of the 15 arrested pro-democracy political figures. When she heard the news, I wonder if she thought of their time together when they were younger, before she was silenced. I can’t help but feel empathy for her. I wonder, if she was a man if the backlash towards her would have been as severe. Despite Hong Kong people's recognition of Beijing’s influence, I think we are still quite unaware of our biases towards members of our community. The discrimination that exists on the borderlands stems from larger issues within our community.

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Pictured: a man on fire. I can’t even watch the whole video without stopping it midway through. In the video, the man claimed that we are without borders—that Hong Kong and China are indeed one— and is on fire because of it. The people of Hong Kong take the denial of the border as an act of erasure, yet it is a border enforced by the very government that they hate. The physical border is not the strongest boundary between Hong Kong and China, but rather, the differing mindsets between the people. Though I am made of both of these differing perspectives, I feel conflicted because of my strong connection to the land and the culture. As the government only furthers their attempts to erase Cantonese and Hong Kong culture, the more I feel connected to it.

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A Man Was Set on Fire During Hong Kong Protests

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Afterword of Among the Braves by Shibani Mahtani and Timothy McLaughlin

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Afterword of Among the Braves by Shibani Mahtani and Timothy McLaughlin

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Beyond the Hong Kong-China border, there are more internal borders within Hong Kong, too. One of which being the prisons that now contain many of the activists who have bravely stood up for Hong Kong. The difference between the borderlands between Hong Kong and China versus the borderlands between Mexico and the United States is that the influence the United States has on Mexico does not become worse the further you get into Mexico. In Hong Kong, Beijing’s influence spans beyond just the border, but also through our justice system. Thinking about Gwyneth Ho’s experiences, from running to be a pro-democracy legislator to being put behind bars for protesting, I wonder how a person can love a place so much that they would be willing to sacrifice their livelihood to help others get justice.

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When I was in middle school, I didn’t understand the gravity of the Hong Kong protests. I knew that school had to be cancelled for a while, and that when I went to guitar class and heard the sounds of tear gas being shot into the street, I had to go home immediately. Between Hong Kong and China, there is an issue of control, but on a larger scale, the issue at the heart of the protests is borders—those between China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, and what the ramifications of those borders are politically. But to many Hong Kongers and immigrants alike, the political is often extremely personal.