Abstract
Beijing’s united front work targeted at Hong Kong’s women groups and activists has become extensive and intensive since July 1, 1997. Some formerly pro-British and pro-colonial government women groups, such as the Hong Kong Chinese Women’s Club and the Women’s Welfare Club, have been co-opted and absorbed into the PRC’s united front umbrella. Moreover, pro-Beijing women groups have grown by leaps and bounds, including the utilization of core groups such as the All-China Women Federation, the Hong Kong Federation of Women and the Hong Kong Development Association. Pro-Beijing women activists and groups have been politically encouraged and mobilized, and financially supported, to participate in legislative and local elections, thereby gradually increasing the quantity and quality of women participation in politics. At the same time, women activists have been politically appointed and coopted into China’s and Hong Kong’s political institutions, strengthening their subjective feelings of being socially and politically recognized and of having their status elevated. In recent years, pro-Beijing women federations have envisaged their leadership rejuvenation and renewal, trying to sustain the momentum of development in the long run.
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Notes
- 1.
For local studies on the status and social participation of women, see Wong Pik-wan and Eliza W. Y. Lee, “Gender and Political Participation in Hong Kong: Formal Participation and Community Participation,” occasional paper series, Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006; Eliza Lee, “Gender and Political Participation in Hong Kong,” Asian Journal of Women Studies, vol. 6, no. 3 (2000), pp. 93–114; Wai-man Lam and Irene L. K. Tong, “Political Change and the Women’s Movement in Hong Kong and Macau,” Asian Journal of Women Studies, vol. 12, no. 1 (2006), pp. 7–35; and Mok Hing-luen, “A Study of women’s political participation in Hong Kong,” Master of Social Sciences thesis, Department of Social Work, University of Hong Kong, 1991.
- 2.
In 2016, for example, women in the education sector were paid HK$9800 less than men each month, while women in the finance sector earned HK$8800 less than male counterparts. See Jeffie Lam, “We aim to close Hong Kong’s gender pay gap and help half a million housewives, Women’s Commission head says,” in South China Morning Post, February 17, 2018, in http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/community/article/2133651/we-aim-close-hong-kongs-gender-pay-gap-and-help-half, access date: June 16, 2018. In 2016, women also occupied 29% of the senior positions although they made up of 55% of the overall workforce in Hong Kong. See Louise Moon, “Despite more women entering the Hong Kong workforce, few make it to senior management positions,” in South China Morning Post, February 14, 2018, in http://www.scmp.com/business/article/2133286/despite-more-women-entering-hong-kong-workforce-few-make-it-senior, access date: June 16, 2018.
- 3.
See the life stories of the late Ellen Li, in http://www.elicf.com/eng/Dr%20Ellen%20Li.htm, access date: June 16, 2018. She was born in Fujian and got a business degree from the Hujiang University in Shanghai, a university established by the American Baptist Missionary Union in 1906. From 1964 to 1969, Li became an appointed member of the Urban Council and, later, she was the chairwoman of the Hong Kong Family Planning Association. She was the chairwoman of the Hong Kong Women Development Association. Li was the first female Legislative Council member from 1966 to 1974. She witnessed the implementation of marriage reform from tolerating concubines to monogamous marriage in 1971.
- 4.
For the activities of the Club, see http://www.hkcwc.org.hk/page.php?id=1, access date: June 16, 2018.
- 5.
See the School’s website, in http://www.hkcwc-htyps.edu.hk/index/customIndex.aspx?nnnid=1, access date: June 16, 2018.
- 6.
For details, see its website http://www.hkcwc.org.hk/page.php?id=2, June 16, 2018.
- 7.
See the income and expenditure account, in http://www.hkcwc.org.hk/panel/editor/attached/file/20180328/20180328110843_95855.pdf, access date: June 16, 2018.
- 8.
Wen Wei Po, February 20, 2016.
- 9.
See the HKFW website, in http://www.hkfw.org/chi/intro.php, access date: June 16, 2018.
- 10.
See http://www.hkfw.org/chi/intro.php, access date: June 16, 2018.
- 11.
See the HKFW activities in http://www.hkfw.org/chi/event_archive.php, access date: June 16, 2018.
- 12.
See the Annual Newsletter of the HKFW, no. 74 (2017), in http://www.hkfw.org/chi/activities/publication/issue-74.pdf, access date: June 16, 2018.
- 13.
See its position in https://www.hkfw.org/chi/comment.php, access date: June 17, 2018.
- 14.
Wen Wei Po, March 28, 2018.
- 15.
“Speech by the Chief Executive at Women’s Commission International Women’s Day 2018 reception,” in https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/201803/08/P2018030800787.htm, access date: June 17, 2018.
- 16.
For details, see the website of KWOF, in http://www.kwof.org.hk/web/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=53&Itemid=53, access date: June 17, 2018.
- 17.
For details, see the website of HKIWA, in http://www.hkiwa.org/web/, access date: June 17, 2018.
- 18.
For details, see the website of HKIWA, in http://www.hkiwa.org/web/album.php, access date: June 17, 2018.
- 19.
For details, see the website of KWOF, in http://www.kwof.org.hk/web/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=190&Itemid=56, access date: June 17, 2018.
- 20.
See the website http://www.kwof.org.hk/web/images/KWOF2017_17jun-361.jpg, access date: June 17, 2018.
- 21.
See the website https://www.hkfw.org/chi/event_hkfwwec.php, access date: June 17, 2018.
- 22.
See http://www.hkfw.org/chi/honorary.php, access date: January 8, 2019.
- 23.
For the platform, see http://www.wfda.hk/about.aspx?clid=151&lan=1, access date: January 9, 2019.
- 24.
Ibid.
- 25.
Wen Wei Po, April 7, 2018.
- 26.
Ibid.
- 27.
See her interview by the Tai Kung Pao internet, http://www.hkwda.org.hk/, access date: June 17, 2018.
- 28.
Newsletter of the HKDWA, no. 52 (November 2017), p. 17, in https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EP86s3d7v4t-9otbSQem9q5S1S3eiy0w/view, access date: June 17, 2018.
- 29.
Newsletter of the HKDWA, no. 53 (April 2018), in https://drive.google.com/file/d/17nUp8QFZAGXHqEVykC8AvuwrteYCRbgz/view, access date: June 17, 2018.
- 30.
Sally Choi, “Feminist and Labor Movements in Hong Kong: Critical and Co-Constructive (Perspective),” a presentation in San Paulo, Brazil, July 30, 2013, in www.solidaritycenter.org, access date: January 7, 2019.
- 31.
Ibid.
- 32.
Ta Kung Pao, October 18, 2016.
- 33.
See https://www.oiwa.org.hk/tc/, access date: January 9, 2019.
- 34.
For details, see https://baike.baidu.com, access date: January 9, 2019.
- 35.
For details, see http://www.oiwa.org.hk/tc, access date: January 9, 2019.
- 36.
For details, see http://www.tm-women.org.hk/attachment/public_pdf/2016May.pdf, and http://www.tswwa.org/our-company, access date: January 10, 2019.
- 37.
For her activities, see http://www.fhka.com.hk/zh-hant/node/372, access date: January 10, 2019.
- 38.
Ta Kung Pao, September 12, 2015, in http://news.takungpao.com.hk/paper/q/2015/0912/3162732.html, access date: January 10, 2019.
- 39.
Ming Pao, May 20, 2018.
- 40.
For details, see http://www.kwof.org.hk/web/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=53&Itemid=53, access date: January 10, 2019.
- 41.
Ibid.
- 42.
For details, see https://www.thestandnews.com/, access date: January 10, 2019.
- 43.
Ibid.
- 44.
For details, see http://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/hong_kong_review/2014/09/140916_hkreview_report_hot_line, https://www.voacantonese.com/a/beijing-loyalists-under-fire-for-reporting-hotline-20140910/2444843.html, and https://www.rfa.org/cantonese/news/HK-student-09082014094647.html, access date: November 23, 2018.
- 45.
For details, see https://www.voacantonese.com/a/beijing-loyalists-under-fire-for-reporting-hotline-20140910/2444843.html, access date: January 10, 2019.
- 46.
See http://www.hiwa.org/, access date: January 11, 2019.
- 47.
Ibid.
- 48.
Those who supported the Occupy Movement wore yellow ribbons but those who opposed it wore the blue ribbons.
- 49.
See Fung’s remarks as mentioned in http://www.hkedwa.com/word/, access date: January 11, 2019.
- 50.
See https://aaf.org.hk/, access date: January 13, 2019.
- 51.
For its activities, see https://aaf.org.hk/category/, access date: January 13, 2019.
- 52.
For Lau’s role, see Shum Lok-kei, Jeffie Lam and Alvin Lum, “Ousted pro-democracy Hong Kong lawmaker Lau Siu-lai barred from Kowloon West Legislative Council by-election,” South China Morning Post, October 12, 2018, in https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2168359/ousted-pro-democracy-hong-kong-lawmaker-lau-siu-lai-barred, access date: January 13, 2019.
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Lo, S.SH., Hung, S.CF., Loo, J.HC. (2019). United Front and Women Interest Groups from Pro-British to Pro-Beijing. In: China’s New United Front Work in Hong Kong. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-8483-7_5
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