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The Institute was founded in August 2004 [1] by founders Simon Lee, Andrew Work, and Andrew Shuen.
The Lion Rock Institution describes itself as "independent". [2] Academic and democracy activist Joseph Cheng regards the Institution as politically neutral. [3]
The Lion Rock Institution's political activities have been pro-free market. It opposed to an increase of tobacco tax in Hong Kong as proposed by the Hong Kong Government in 2009. [4]
The Lion Rock Institute is active in a range of aspects of Hong Kong society, especially broadcasting and telecom, town planning, transportation, house and redevelopment, fiscal management, competition law, social mobility, minimum wage, education, health care, and financial services. [5] It does not concern itself with foreign policies or those concerning mainland China.
The Institute has been quoted on a number of these issues by newspapers and media outlets in Asia. [6]
The Lion Rock Institute subscribes to the view that "policies from a free market perspective", such as defending property rights, lessening government interferences on the market, and advocating low taxes rates and minimal restrictions on businesses, "will contribute to a freer and more prosperous future for Hong Kong". [7]
The Institute explains that "In the 1950s, hundreds of thousands fled turmoil in Mainland China. They hoped for freedom and a better life. They settled in droves on the slopes of Hong Kong's geographical centre, Lion Rock..."Under the Lion Rock", a 1970s classic by Roman Tam, tells the story of the people who built Hong Kong. The spirit of a community supported the individual efforts of those seeking freedom and prosperity." The Lion Rock name symbolises the strength of the people of Hong Kong, both during this time and in general; by taking on the name, the Institute hopes to express the "hope for freedom, individual courage" and an aspiration to build a prosperous future of the people of Hong Kong. [2]
Among the Institute's values: [8]
Hong Kong is a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China. With 7.4 million residents of various nationalities in a 1,104-square-kilometre (426 sq mi) territory, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated territories in the world.
The economy of Hong Kong is a highly developed free-market economy. It is characterised by low taxation, almost free port trade and a well-established international financial market. Its currency, called the Hong Kong dollar, is legally issued by three major international commercial banks, and is pegged to the US dollar. Interest rates are determined by the individual banks in Hong Kong to ensure that they are market driven. There is no officially recognised central banking system, although the Hong Kong Monetary Authority functions as a financial regulatory authority.
"Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addition to the geographical mainland, the geopolitical sense of the term includes islands such as Hainan, Chongming, and Zhoushan. By convention, territories outside of mainland China include:
"One country, two systems" is a constitutional principle of the People's Republic of China (PRC) describing the governance of the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.
The Index of Economic Freedom is an annual index and ranking created in 1995 by The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal to measure the degree of economic freedom in the world's nations. The creators of the index assert that they take an approach inspired by Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations, that "basic institutions that protect the liberty of individuals to pursue their own economic interests result in greater prosperity for the larger society".
In the People's Republic of China, Deng Xiaoping formally retired after the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, to be succeeded by former Shanghai CCP secretary Jiang Zemin. During that period, the crackdown of the protests in 1989 led to great woes in China's reputation globally, and sanctions resulted. The situation, however, would eventually stabilize. Deng's idea of checks and balances in the political system also saw its demise with Jiang consolidating power in the party, state and military. The 1990s saw healthy economic development, but the closing of state-owned enterprises and increasing levels of corruption and unemployment, along with environmental challenges continued to plague China, as the country saw the rise to consumerism, crime, and new-age spiritual-religious movements such as Falun Gong. The 1990s also saw the peaceful handover of Hong Kong and Macau to Chinese control under the formula of One Country, Two Systems. China also saw a new surge of nationalism when facing crises abroad.
C-pop is an abbreviation for Chinese popular music, a loosely defined musical genre by artists originating from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. This also includes countries where Chinese languages are used by parts of the population, such as Singapore and Malaysia. C-pop is used as an umbrella term covering not only Chinese pop but also R&B, ballads, Chinese rock, Chinese hip hop and Chinese ambient music, although Chinese rock diverged during the early 1990s.
Sir John James Cowperthwaite, KBE, CMG, was a British civil servant who served as Financial Secretary of Hong Kong from 1961 to 1971. His introduction of free market economic policies are widely credited with turning postwar Hong Kong into a thriving global financial centre. During Cowperthwaite's tenure as Financial Secretary, real wages in Hong Kong rose by 50% and the portion of the population in acute poverty fell from 50% to 15%.
Economic Freedom of the World is an annual survey published by the Fraser Institute, a Canadian think tank. The survey attempts to measure the degree of economic freedom in the world's nations. It has been used in peer-reviewed studies, some of which have found a range of beneficial effects of more economic freedom.
Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor is a retired Hong Kong politician who served as the fourth Chief Executive of Hong Kong from 2017 to 2022, after serving as Chief Secretary for Administration for five years.
Johannes Chan Man-mun (陳文敏) SC (Hon) is an adjunct professor, former chair professor of law (–2021) and former dean of the faculty of law (2002–2014) at the University of Hong Kong. He specialises in human rights, constitutional and administrative law, and is the first and only academic silk ever appointed in Hong Kong. He is credited with transforming the University's Faculty of Law into one of the leading law schools in the world during his tenure as Dean.
Hong Kong independence is the notion of Hong Kong as a sovereign state, independent from the People's Republic of China (PRC). Hong Kong is a special administrative region (SAR) of China and is thus granted a high degree of de jure autonomy, as stipulated by Article 2 of the Hong Kong Basic Law ratified under the Sino-British Joint Declaration. Since the transfer of the sovereignty of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the PRC in 1997, a growing number of Hongkongers have become concerned about what they see as Beijing's encroachment on the territory's freedoms and the failure of the Hong Kong government to deliver "genuine democracy". Advocating for Hong Kong independence became illegal after the Hong Kong national security law in 2020.
Civic Passion was a radical, populist, localist, and nativist political party in Hong Kong. Founded by Wong Yeung-tat as an activist group in 2012, it held strong localist views and opposed the involvement of the Chinese government in the governance of Hong Kong. In the 2016 Legislative Council election, the Civic Passion formed an electoral alliance with Wong Yuk-man's Proletariat Political Institute and Chin Wan's Hong Kong Resurgence Order. Cheng Chung-tai became the only candidate of the alliance elected to the legislature and subsequently took over as the leader of the Civic Passion. After the election, Cheng reorganised the group into a political party and pulled out from the social activism. From December 2020 to August 2021, it was the only opposition party in the Legislative Council of Hong Kong.
Relations between people in Hong Kong and mainland China have been relatively tense since the early 2000s. Various factors have contributed, including different interpretations of the "one country, two systems" principle; policies of the Hong Kong and central governments to encourage mainland visitors to Hong Kong; and the changing economic environment. More broadly, there exists resentment toward mainland-Hong Kong convergence and assimilation, as well as the increasing interference from the government of China and its ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Hong Kong's internal affairs.
Lion Rock Spirit, also known as the Spirit of Hong Kong, is a term referring to the "can-do" attitude of Hong Kong people and their collective determination to improve their lives in the face of difficulties. It has been compared to the "Blitz spirit" and the "American Dream".
Youth in Hong Kong, according to the University of Hong Kong Statistical Profile, comprises citizens of the Chinese territory of Hong Kong aged 15–24 years. As of 2011, youth in Hong Kong ages 15–24 made up 12.4 per cent of Hong Kong's overall population at 875,200 people. Hong Kong is a hybrid culture, influenced by China and Britain, but overall by its international economic ties and neoliberal policies, which plays a role in shaping the lives of the youth in Hong Kong. The youth in Hong Kong is unique in the fact that many are living Transnationalist identities. The demographics are not just ethnically Chinese youth in Hong Kong, but also youth that are ethnically white, Indonesian, Filipino, which can be seen in Demographics of Hong Kong, and that creates a unique society. "Although with a dominant Chinese population, Hong Kong is an international city and is a mix of East and West rich in cultures, history, and religions." The disparity between the rich and poor within Hong Kong has been growing wider.
In Hong Kong, localism is a political movement centred on the preservation of the city's autonomy and local culture. The Hong Kong localist movement encompasses a variety of groups with different goals, but all of them oppose the perceived growing encroachment of the Chinese central government on the city's management of its own political, economic, and social affairs. While the movement's milder elements advocate for greater autonomy while remaining as part of China, the more radical elements call for a return to British rule or full independence as a sovereign state. Some also advocate for a more aggressive and militant stance against the mainland government in defending local interests. For that reason, they are labelled as "radicals" and "separatists" by the Chinese government. Issues of concern to the localist camp include land use and development, cultural and heritage conservation, parallel trading, and the increasing number of mainland immigrants and mainland tourists. Although grouped together with liberals, they have a distinct view as they advocate for Hongkongers' right to self-determination. In the aftermath of the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests, localists were largely absorbed into the pro-democracy camp.
Conservatism in Hong Kong has become the backbone of today's pro-Beijing camp, which has been the major supporting force of the SAR administration led by the indirectly elected Chief Executive. It is one of two major political ideologies of the Hong Kong, with the other being liberalism. Since the Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984, conservatism has been characterised by business elites joining with pro-Communist traditional leftists in a "united front" to resist the rise of the demand for democratisation and liberalisation, in order to secure continued political stability and economic prosperity while maintaining a good relationship with the central government in Beijing leading up to and after the 1997 handover.
John Lee Ka-chiu is a Hong Kong politician and former police officer who is the fifth and current Chief Executive of Hong Kong.
In September 2017, tensions arose between different parties over the content of posters put up on Democracy wall in the Chinese University of Hong Kong. This has led to increased tensions in Hong Kong society, due to the interpretations of freedom of speech of certain content of the posters. This has also led to copycats incidents occurring in other universities in Hong Kong as well reigniting Hong Kong Independence debate within Hong Kong Kong society. The standoff, which has manifested in a series of protests and counterprotests on campuses, is reflective of the wider disconnect between mainlanders and Hongkongers, fanned by a host of reasons from politics and language barriers to state-fuelled propaganda and competition for scarce resources.
