Marking 1997 – Reflections 25 Years On

Zoom Webinar

The return of Hong Kong to China in 1997 meant something different to everyone involved. For China, it was a diplomatic, moral, and psychological victory over the “unequal treaties” between China and Western powers.  For Hong Kong, it meant relinquishing their colonial past.

Overnight, this former colony became the first Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. For Britain, 1997 marked the end of one of the world’s great empires. In Hong Kong, reactions ranged from pride and joy to fear and frustration. Twenty-five years on, China and the West continue to grapple with the change.

This program revisits those historic events leading up to 1997 and considers what made this event so distinctive in world history.

Join our Faculty Director, Kenneth Pomeranz as he and his expert panellists from Hong Kong and the U.K. revisit the historic event and discuss their unique research and perspectives including “Britishness in Hong Kong and 1997”, “Writing and Rewriting Hong Kong’s Past:  History Education for a Decolonising Society”, “Telling the Story of Handover Negotiations”, and “1997 in World History”.

June 30, 2022
9:00 pm               Japan | South Korea
8:00 pm               Hong Kong | Beijing | Singapore
5:30 pm               Delhi
2:00 pm               Paris
1:00 pm                London
7:00 am               Chicago

Speakers

John M. Carroll
Professor of History and Associate Dean (Global) in the Faculty of Arts
The University of Hong Kong

Vivian Kong
Lecturer in Modern Chinese History
University of Bristol

Adonis M. Y. Li
PhD candidate in History
The University of Hong Kong

Allan Pang
PhD candidate in the Faculty of History
University of Cambridge

Moderator

Kenneth Pomeranz
Faculty Director
The University of Chicago Yuen Campus in Hong Kong

About Hong Kong Redux

The UChicago Yuen Campus’ new Yuen Lecture Series ‘Hong Kong Redux’ seeks to explore the deep corners of Hong Kong’s cultural history and society.  UChicago and other subject matter experts representing decades of knowledge of Hong Kong will join together to celebrate the evolution of Hong Kong’s arts, literature, cinema and more.  Get in the Yuen Campus team’s virtual time machine to have a nostalgic look back at Hong Kong’s bygone Post War era and discover how Hong Kong became the mega-city it is today.  Read More