Hong Kong is considered to be part of China, but has a distinctly different form of government. Tensions between the democratizing city and its authoritarian country peaked in 2019 when protesters took to the streets demanding democratic reform after China attempted to use their legal power in Hong Kong.

Since 2014, images of packed city streets, tear gas, and walls of umbrellas have circulated through the world’s media circuit, but these protests are only a piece of the ongoing tensions between Hong Kong and China, and their impacts have been felt around the world.

In this virtual Civic Series event, we’ll explore questions like:

• What exactly is Hong Kong and what is its complicated relationship with China?
• How is it possible to have one country with two systems of government?
• What is it like to live in Hong Kong?
• How do tensions between Hong Kong and China affect the U.S.?

…and many more.

Join our jargon-free introduction and Q&A with guest expert Dr. Xiaoyu Pu, associate professor of political science at the University of Nevada, Reno. We’ll go over the essentials and answer your questions about the relationship between Hong Kong and China.

Send us your questions before and during the event:

Text or leave a voicemail at (617) 398-0051 so we can play your question during the event! Or email us hello at civic series dot org.

Our guest expert:

Xiaoyu Pu is an associate professor of political science at the University of Nevada, Reno. He is a Public Intellectuals Program fellow with the National Committee on United States-China Relations and a non-resident senior fellow with the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, D.C. He received his Ph.D. from Ohio State University. Pu is the author of Rebranding China: Contested Status Signaling in the Changing Global Order (The Studies in Asian Security Series, Stanford University Press, 2019). Read his full bio here.

Photo: Protest calling for G20 leaders to pay attention to Hong Kong. Credit: Ng Tin Hung / Civic Human Right Front via Global Voices.