Hong Kong before British colonialism was cooler than you think, and was never on the same trajectory as the mainland Chinese kingdoms. HKers were pirates, traders, seafarers, fishermen who played cat & mouse with mainland authorities.

See: 徐承恩，城邦舊事：十二本書看香港本土史 HK in S. China was always a troublemaker in the eyes of the mainland authorities (familiar?), due to their proximity to the sea.

Both the Ming and Qing dynasties tried to limit seafaring by banning maritime trades (海禁）, forcing some in HK to take up arms and become pirates.

Fascinating: Study shows that Trump's trade war ended up being weaponized by China to target swing Republican districts and knock down Republican candidates.

ow.ly/gBFg50DfLof "for every percentage point increase in the share of workers exposed to China's retaliatory tariffs, the Republican share of the vote decreased by 0.12 to 0.47 percentage points compared to the previous election"

EVERY HONG KONG POLITICIAN YOU HAVE HEARD OF ARE NOW BEING ARRESTED Context: 52 Hong Kong politicians participated in pro-democracy primaries on 11 and 12 July 2020.

Pro-dem primaries have always been held and allowed in Hong Kong. They help the pro-dems coordinate votes.

Now, all of them are arrested by national security law.