Liberalism in Hong Kong

Liberalism has a long tradition in Hong Kong as an economic philosophy and has become a major political trend since the 1980s, often represented the pro-democracy camp, apart from Chinese nationalism and conservatism which often constitutes the pro-Beijing camp.

The cession of Hong Kong under the Treaty of Nanking in 1842 was overseen by the then British Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston. Lord Palmerston was a prime figure of the Whig, precceedor of the Liberal Party. The aims of the Opium War was to open up the Chinese market in the name of free trade. As the British free port of Hong Kong, Taking advantage as the gateway to the vast Chinese market, Hong Kong merchants, the so-called compradors, had taken the leading role in investment and trading opportunities by serving as middlemen between European and indigenous population in China and Hong Kong, in the principles of laissez-faire classical liberalism, which has since dominated the discourse of the economic philosophy of Hong Kong.

Sir John Bowring, Governor of Hong Kong (1854–59), disciple of liberal philosopher Jeremy Bentham, for instance, was a chief campaigner of free trade at the time. He believed that "Jesus Christ is Free Trade and Free Trade is Jesus Christ." In 1858, Bowring proudly claimed that "Hongkong presents another example of elasticity and potency of unrestricted commerce." For that reason, Hong Kong has been rated the world's freest economy for the past 18 years, a title bestowed on it by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think tank, and was greatly admired by libertarian economist Milton Friedman.

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