Other diplomacies and Canadianness: Hong Kong-resident Canadians and the Occupy Central and Umbrella Movement protests

ABSTRACT

This study examines the diplomatic practices of Hong Kong-resident Canadian nationals responding to the 2014 Occupy Central and Umbrella Movement. One of Hong Kong’s largest “foreign” populations and the second largest concentration of Canadians abroad, this population was mostly Hong Kong-born, dual nationals/residents and class privileged. Using an “other diplomacies” framework, the analysis examines how they represented Canadianness and identified/interpreted foreignness, practices with diplomatic characteristics even when performed by non-state actors. Drawing from 50 semi-structured interviews, the study found that in-betweenness and class shaped diplomatic practices. Interviewees often represented Canadianness as transnational/multi-jurisdictional, embodying liberal democratic values shared with Hong Kong and other jurisdictions/societies. Despite PRC government allegations that foreign forces and powers fomented the protests, most interviewees identified Canadian residents as politically non-foreign in Hong Kong and were broadly pro-protest. However, some disagreed with each other and the Canadian government over the reconciliation of business interests with representations of Canadianness. The findings, although tentative given data limitations, provide a rare glimpse of overseas Canadians’ diplomatic practices during Hong Kong’s ongoing, intensifying cycle of anti-government demonstrations. They suggest potential diplomatic and foreign policy challenges for the Canadian government confronting a rising PRC and underscore the need for more research on the political dimensions of Canadians abroad.

RÉSUMÉ

Cette étude examine les pratiques diplomatiques des citoyens canadiens résidant à Hong-Kong en réponse aux mouvements « Occupy Central » et « des Parapluies ». Constituant l'une des populations les plus importantes « d'étrangers » de Hong-Kong et la deuxième concentration de Canadiens à l'étranger, cette population était principalement composée de personnes nées à Hong-Kong, ayant la double nationalité/résidence et appartenant à la classe privilégiée. En se basant sur un cadre « d'autres diplomaties », l'analyse porte sur la façon dont celles-ci ont représenté la canadianité et identifié/interprété l'extranéité, certaines pratiques de personnages diplomatiques même si celles-ci étaient réalisées par des acteurs non étatiques. S'appuyant sur 50 entretiens semi-structurés, l'étude a révélé que l'entre-deux et la classe sociale déterminaient les pratiques diplomatiques. Les personnes interrogées se représentaient souvent la canadianité comme une chose transnationale/multi-juridictionnelle, incarnant les valeurs démocratiques libérales partagées avec Hong-Kong et d'autres juridictions/sociétés. Malgré les allégations du gouvernement de la République Populaire de Chine selon lesquelles des forces et des puissances étrangères ont fomenté les manifestations, la plupart des personnes interrogées ont indiqué que les résidents canadiens à Hong Kong n'étaient pas des étrangers, d'un point de vue politique, et étaient largement favorables aux protestations. Cependant, certains étaient en désaccord entre eux et avec le gouvernement canadien au regard du rapprochement entre les intérêts commerciaux et les représentations de la canadianité. Bien que provisoires, compte tenu des limites des données, les résultats offrent un rare aperçu des pratiques diplomatiques des Canadiens à l'étranger pendant le cycle de manifestations antigouvernementales qui se poursuit et s'intensifie à Hong Kong. Ils suggèrent un potentiel diplomatique et étranger défis politiques pour le gouvernement canadien face à une RPC croissante et soulignent la nécessité de poursuivre les recherches sur la dimensions politiques des Canadiens à l'étranger.

KEYWORDS:

• Non-state diplomacies
• Canadian residents of Hong Kong
• Canada-PRC relations
• overseas Canadians
• Hong Kong pro-democracy protests

Acknowledgements

The author gratefully acknowledges York University for funding and the Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Hong Kong, where she was a visiting researcher during fieldwork.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributor

Susan Henders teaches global and comparative politics at York University. Her current research on non-state actors in Canadian diplomacy and foreign policy has been published in the Hague Journal of Diplomacy and the Canadian Foreign Policy Journal. She also studies the international and domestic politics of decentralized state architectures, particularly related to culturally regionalized states in eastern Asia and western Europe. She earned a DPhil at the University of Oxford and an MPhil at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Notes

1 In the present study, the term “nationality” means formal, legal belonging in a state. The term “diaspora” is avoided because it implies that overseas nationals’ subjectivities are relatively homogenous and necessarily tied to a “home” territory or state. The present study instead regards the groupness and subjectivities of Hong Kong-resident Canadians as “a category of practice, project, claim and stance” (Brubaker, 2005, p. 13), constituted in part through the meaning-making associated with diplomatic practices.

2 Among the organizations were the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong; Canadian Club of Hong Kong; Chinese Canadian Association (HK); Canadian University Association Hong Kong; the Hong Kong alumni groups of Canadian universities; and Canadian-curriculum schools in Hong Kong.

3 Mostly small “functional constituencies” representing business, professionals, occupations, and social, economic and political bodies choose 30 seats, while five are selected by near universal suffrage from District Councillor nominees.

4 Cantonese: slang for white Westerners.

5 The 2014 and 2019–2020 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong appear to have increased the numbers of Hong Kong-resident Canadians returning to reside in Canada (see Young, 2019).

6 Cantonese: open-air food stalls.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by York University.