This episode discusses the recent 2017 Hong Kong Chief Executive election in Hong Kong and explains why it was not held according to the principle of universal suffrage. Professor Zweig joins us to discuss issues of political reform in Hong Kong and its evolving relationship with Mainland authorities. This episode considers Hong Kong’s political future in light of the 2017 election, explains the other socioeconomic dynamics of Hong Kong underlying demands for democratic reform, and concludes by asking what Carrie Lam will be able to accomplish during her tenure as Chief Executive.
David Zweig is Chair Professor of Social Science, and Director of the Center on Environment, Energy, and Resource Policy as well as the Director of Center on China’s Transnational Relations at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. His research interests include China’s ‘resource diplomacy,’ China’s human resources, Chinese politics and political economy, Sino-American relations, international and political economy, and East Asian international relations. He is author of Internationalizing China: Domestic Interests and Global Linkages (2002) and editor of Sino-U.S. Energy Triangles: Resource Diplomacy under Hegemony (2016).