Young Hong Kongers also simply don’t feel Chinese. Hong Kong University’s Public Opinion Program, a long-running survey, found that just 3.1 percent of those under 30 identified as Chinese, with the vast majority seeing themselves as Hong Kongers. That pits them against an older generation with stronger ties to the mainland—and against the city’s political and business elite, who effectively switched allegiance to Beijing in the 1990s. Hong Kongers feel the elite has sold them out, not least because the city’s growing inequality is making it harder and harder for the young to find housing or meaningful jobs.
