by

Professor Yan Hairong

and

Professer Barry Sautman

( please not that the event has been Cancelled)

In mid-to-late 2019, Hong Kong had over 900 demonstrations, including some very large ones. The protests were ostensibly about stopping Hong Kongs government from extraditing accused criminals to the Chinese mainland, ending excessive use of force by police, and changing the electoral system so that pan-democratic forces might win a majority in the Legislative Council and compete for the Chief Executive position. Protestors were portrayed in global media as fighting for democracy against tyrannical Hong Kong and Chinese central governments. The demonstrations soon changed however from mainly peaceful to mostly violent. That underscored that the movement was increasingly led by nativist (localist) forces. These forces regard Hong Kong people as an ethnic group distinct from Chinese mainlanders, who they despise as backward invaders. Localists seek Hong Kongs separation, which they believe can happen through regime change in the Chinese mainland. We will analyze the characteristics and role of Hong Kong nativism and its relation to racist nativism and chauvinism elsewhere.

10th February 2020 at 4 p.m.

ICES Auditorium,

2, Kynsey Terrace, Colombo 8