Asia In-Depth Podcast: Hong Kong on the Brink | Asia Society Skip to main content
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      • Afghanistan

      • American Samoa

      • Armenia
      • Australia
      • Azerbaijan
      • Bahrain
      • Bangladesh

      • Bhutan

      • Brunei

      • Cambodia

      • Central Asia
      • China
      • Cook Islands

      • Cyprus
      • East Asia
      • East Timor
      • Fiji

      • French Polynesia

      • Georgia

      • Guam
    • Column Two
      • Hong Kong
      • India
      • Indonesia
      • Iran
      • Iraq
      • Israel
      • Japan
      • Jordan
      • Kazakhstan
      • Kiribati
      • Kuwait

      • Kyrgyzstan
      • Laos
      • Lebanon
      • Macau
      • Malaysia
      • Maldives
      • Marshall Islands
      • Micronesia

      • Mongolia

    • Column Three
      • Myanmar

      • Nauru

      • Nepal

      • New Caledonia

      • New Zealand

      • Niue
      • North Korea

      • Northern Marianas
      • Oceania
      • Oman

      • Pakistan

      • Palau
      • Palestine

      • Papua New Guinea
      • Philippines
      • Qatar

      • Samoa
      • Saudi Arabia
      • Singapore

      • Solomon Islands

    • Column Four
      • South Asia
      • Southeast Asia
      • South Korea
      • Sri Lanka
      • Syria
      • Taiwan
      • Tajikistan
      • Thailand
      • Tibet
      • Tokelau
      • Tonga
      • Turkey

      • Turkmenistan

      • Tuvalu
      • United Arab Emirates
      • Uzbekistan
      • Vanuatu
      • Vietnam
      • Wallis and Futuna
      • West Asia
      • Yemen
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Asia In-Depth Podcast: Hong Kong on the Brink

February 20th, 2020
Hong Kongers protest in the wake of the coronavirus in Wuhan, China.

Riot police run in a residential area as residents protest against plans for an empty local housing estate to become a temporary quarantine camp for patients and frontline medical staff of the coronavirus outbreak which began in the Chinese city of Wuhan, in the Fanling district in Hong Kong on January 26, 2020. (Philip Fong/AFP/Getty Images)

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For much of the past year, a widespread protest movement has roiled Hong Kong. Initially, the demonstrations began when the territory’s government passed an extradition law that left Hong Kong residents vulnerable to the justice system in mainland China. But even the withdrawal of the bill hasn’t quelled the movement. Now, it represents something far greater: the perilous future of autonomous Hong Kong itself.

Is the “one country, two systems” framework governing Hong Kong’s relationship with China still alive? What lies ahead in 2020. And looking further down the road, what might happen in 2047, when Beijing is scheduled to regain full control?

The future of Hong Kong forms the basis of the new book Vigil: Hong Kong on the Brink. Its author, Jeffrey Wasserstrom, is a professor of history at the University of California, Irvine. He places the recent events in Hong Kong in a broader historical context and considers whether the territory will ever return to the way things were before the protests began. In this episode of Asia In-Depth, recorded live on the Asia Society New York stage, Wasserstrom talks with New Yorker correspondent Jiayang Fan and ChinaFile editor Susan Jakes about Hong Kong's tenuous present — and future.

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About the Author

Profile picture for user Matt Schiavenza

Matt Schiavenza is the Assistant Director of Content at Asia Society. His work has appeared at The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, The New Republic, Fortune, and strategy + business among other publications.

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