Brian Wong is a Rhodes Scholar from Hong Kong (2020), DPhil in Politics Candidate at Oxford, and an MPhil in Politics graduate (Distinction) from Wolfson College, University of Oxford. They previously graduated (top ten in year) with a First Class Honours BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, from Pembroke College, Oxford, as a Kwok Scholar. They are the Founding Editor-in-Chief of the Oxford Political Review, an Editor-at-Large for ThriveGlobal, the Founding Secretary of Citizen Action Design Limited, Founding Fellow of Governance Partners Yangon, and a frequent contributor to publications such as TIME, Aeon, the South China Morning Post, Times Higher Education, Asia Times, Fortune, and the Hong Kong Economic Journal.
Earlier this month, China's do-everything app (which is also a leading social media platform) WeChat permanently suspended the official accounts of more than a dozen LGBTQ+ campus advocacy groups. The move was part of the Chinese state's tightening grip over civil society, but also indicative of a rising backlash toward LGBTQ+ rights within the general population.
Beijing has remained largely quiet about the coup d'état in Myanmar, a country with which it shares a 1,300-mile border. Examining China's complicated relationship with its "friendly neighbor" might explain why.
With Trump gone, the U.S. now has an opportunity to engage constructively with China’s future leaders, if not its current ones. Track II diplomacy is vital in restoring normalcy to bilateral relations between these superpowers.
This past year has seen China and the U.S. engage in petty squabbles and a dangerous game of diplomatic one-upmanship. But we believe — because we must — that constructive engagement remains possible and desirable. Given that the U.S. won't take the lead, here's why — and how — China should do so.
A view of Hong Kong politics in the wake of the pan-democratic primaries and recent postponement of the Legislative Council elections.
Being a centrist in Hong Kong can be a lonely proposition, as our writer well knows. “Upholding and respecting the liberal political cultures and values of the city would benefit Beijing and Hong Kong alike,” Brian Wong writes, “though it pains me to see the futility of this pitch playing out before my eyes.”
No one — Establishment or Democratic, progressive or conservative, outside observer or local resident — should want to see Hong Kong burn.