Cadet Killian Buckley's Blog

When viewing the Hong Kong University Press website, you can see a list of books for sale from the publisher.  There are titles such as “Electing Hong Kong’s Chief Executive” and “Re-positioning the Hong Kong Government: Social Foundations and Political Challenges” .  Titles, such as these, from a publishing agency attached to a Hong Kong university, clearly denote a freer press that can be find in China.  While Hong Kong is still part of China, it is clear that the rules and regulations are different within the city.  The city of Hong Kong manages itself in an autonomous fashion.  The intellectuals, professors, and students are granted freedom to criticize, to a degree, the government and institution.  This free press and freedom of speech is far less available and legal within the rest of China.  This freedom granted to the intellectuals has created the environment that allows for voices of discontent, such as the student led protests that are currently happening in Hong Kong as I write this post.  How will these protests affect the freedom of speech issue throughout China?  Will China begin to tighten its control over Hong Kong’s press and media? As the protests escalate, will stronger actions be taken by the central government of China?