Living between incongruous worlds in Hong Kong

Abstract

This article explores the uneasy position of Mainlanders within and in relation to the Anti-Extradition Movement amid rising anti-Mainland sentiment in Hong Kong. It shows how the continued reliance on the Chinese language, contact, and media for information, communication, and socialization have contained them within the Chinese “national space,” influencing their perceptions of the Movement and curtailing the discursive space for articulating political views. Meanwhile, language barriers prevent non-Cantonese-speaking Mainlanders from integrating with the local society and participating in the Movement, in which Cantonese is dominant. The nativist sentiment among protestors also makes those who supported or joined the Movement feel marginalized and invisible. It remains a huge challenge for Mainlanders to break down or bridge over such divisions guarded by both the Great Firewall and nativist sentiments in both Mainland China and Hong Kong.