Nostalgia is understandable, but the city has reinvented itself numerous times before, and is doing so again
3-MIN READ3-MINVictor KwokVictor Kwok is deputy research director at Our Hong Kong Foundation and a member of the All-China Youth Federation. Published: 9:30am, 13 Aug 2026Hong Kong has changed since the turmoil of 2019-20. Few people would dispute this. The more important question is what kind of city it is becoming.
It is evolving into a more nationally integrated yet still distinctive city. The emerging model seeks to combine market dynamism and international connectivity with clearer alignment to national development. This is not decline. It is a search for a viable identity and role.
The US Supreme Court has expanded presidential authority to dismiss heads of such agencies without cause. Few observers would conclude from these changes that America is therefore “over”. The same restraint should apply when assessing Hong Kong.
