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My National Identity Lies With Hong Kong Essay

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I was born in Hong Kong. Although Hong Kong is not a nation and is a part of China, my national identity lies with Hong Kong. After the British took control of Hong Kong, Hong Kong became more prosperous and adopted a capitalist system (Rothman, 2014). Due to the democratic freedom that the capitalist system gave, the citizens of Hong Kong became pro-democracy (Rothman, 2014). Hence, before Hong Kong was back under China’s control, the U.K. and China agreed upon “one country, two systems” (Rothman, 2014). “One country, two systems” means that under China, Hong Kong is allowed to use the capitalist system they have adopted. After the re-assimilation of Hong Kong, tensions between China and Hong Kong rose due to political and cultural differences (Chan, 2014). Many citizens of Hong Kong believe that calling themselves Chinese is demeaning and instead refer to themselves as “Hongkongers” (Chan, 2014). I also share that belief which is why my national identity lies with Hong Kong and not China. Hong Kong’s national identity is unique because Hong Kong was once under British control. Their culture is a mix of Western and Chinese. Hence, the role of gender and the appearance of a family in the self-image of the nation vastly differs from China.
The culture of Hong Kong has shaped my national identity to reject being recognized as Chinese. Often I am prompted to indicate my country of birth, although Hong Kong is not a country, I always put Hong Kong. I pride myself on being a

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