An Improbable Revolution: Hong Kong vs. China

Join UCLA Asia Pacific Center Hong Kong Studies Program Speaker Series on the Hong Kong - China relationship. 

UCLA Asia Pacific Center Hong Kong Studies Program Speaker Series

Hong Kong’s anti-extradition movement has taken the world by storm, impressing and inspiring the global public with its energy, creativity and tenacity. This talk analyzes three “revolutionary” moments – re-imagining community, combating violence, and global city diplomacy – all in reaction to an increasingly repressive and aggressive Chinese regime. The objective is to highlight breakthroughs already achieved and envision possible challenges ahead.

Ching Kwan Lee is Dr. Chung Sze-yuen Professor of Social Science at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Professor of Sociology at UCLA. Her latest books include The Specter of Global China: Politics, Labor and Foreign Investment in Africa (Chicago 2017) and Take Back Our Future: An Eventful Sociology of the Hong Kong Umbrella Movement (Cornell 2019).

From a British colony incorporating the cultural and institutional practices of East and West to an international business center maintaining its own political and judicial systems under Chinese sovereignty, Hong Kong has played a considerable role in the global nexus of capital, cultural, and information exchange. The Asia Pacific Center Hong Kong Studies Program Speaker Series explores the uniqueness of the city from the politico-legal, economic, and cultural perspectives, and its current position in US-China relations. This series is a collaborative effort of the Asia Pacific Center at UCLA and the 21st Century China Center at UC San Diego.