One cross-boundary city-region, two discourses, many storylines : a discursive analysis of Hong Kong-Pearl River Delta integration

Abstract

Hong Kong-Pearl River Delta integration began in the early 1980s along with China’s “reform and opening up policy”, resulting in massive relocation from Hong Kong to Pearl River Delta among manufacturing factories, mainly because of the cheap labor and favorable policies the Chinese government offered. The integration process was speeded up since China resumed sovereignty over Hong Kong in July 1997. Under the implementation of “One Country, Two Systems”, Hong Kong-Pearl River Delta has become an idiosyncratic cross-boundary region – the Greater Pearl River Delta (GPRD) with two legal, monetary and tariff systems in one country.

The case of GPRD integration has been a heated topic of investigation among scholars – the state rescaling process is especially under focus. Over the last few decades, globalization has fundamentally transformed global economy structure by enabling borderless flow of capital and labor. It is therefore a common argument that the GPRD integration is the Chinese government’s socio-spatial response to economic globalization, and an attempt to maximize capital accumulation. Yet despite the abundance of discussions on the GPRD in general, few researches were conducted to look into the role civil society and competing policy discourses play in the state rescaling process.

With the application of discourse coalition approach and the Narrative Policy Framework (NPF), this thesis aims to address the influence of policy discourses on GPRD economic integration, and how policy actors strategically construct storylines to mobilize political actions. This thesis has conducted both content analysis and framing analysis to examine two cross-boundary infrastructure projects, the Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Express Rail Link (XRL) and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) and a regional development initiative known as Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). To put narrative struggles between the pro-integration camp and the anti-integration camp into perspective, this thesis is also going to adopt conflict theory from NPF literatures.

Through the case studies, this thesis argues that the GPRD integration is driven by the dialectical tension between two spatial discourses: the “Hong Kong of Flows” and the “Hong Kong of Places”. The former is a hegemonic discourse from the pro-integration camp, characterized by pro-market and pro-development tendencies. The latter, on the other hand, is a counter-elite discourse put forward by the anti-integration camp, representing common identity, history, culture, and human experiences shared in the community.

The research is conducted with both theoretical and practical concerns. In theoretical terms, this thesis contributes to China Studies by exploring discursive dimension of the GPRD integration, with the hope of pioneering in the area of policy studies through application of discourse coalition approach and the NPF in the Chinese context. In practical terms, the GPRD region is one of the most prosperous city-region in the world, and its integration has been an important part of the national strategy since 2017. Analysis of political dynamics in this region is hopefully beneficial to the policy improvement process in the future.