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ABSTRACT
Emerged from the anti-extradition law amendment bill movement in 2019, the yellow economic circle (YEC) is the first ever widely adopted political consumerism in post-handover Hong Kong, where people buycott yellow (pro-movement) and boycott blue (anti-movement/ pro-Beijing/ pro-HKSAR-government) businesses. The reflection’s prominence lies in the popular engagement in YEC, and the political consumerism still lingers in the city even after the abrupt end of the 2019 movement. Existing research lacks the exploration of the meanings YEC entailed in relation to the context of Hong Kong and the lessons YEC can impart to the city’s civil society development. By classifying YEC into “sign” and “process,” the article first examines the particular juncture at which YEC emerged to show how Beijing has tried to govern Hong Kong through the market. It subsequently delves into a discourse analysis, scrutinizing how Beijing has constructed a civility for the market, which is later reshaped by YEC. Drawing on Chantal Mouffe’s theorization of “politics” as well as Hardt and Negri’s discussion of “identitarian love,” the article continues by shedding light on the identity politics and oxymoron of liberal democracy inherent in the political consumerism. It also addresses the narrow democratic imagination reflected in different incidents arising from YEC, which may be symptomatic of Hong Kong’s current political struggle. The exploration concludes with suggestions on how the YEC can strengthen Hong Kong’s civil society after Beijing’s crackdown.
Acknowledgments
An earlier version of this paper was presented at the “2023 Cultural Studies Association Annual Conference.” I am grateful to the participants for their comments and suggestions and to Inmedia for granting permission to use their copyrighted pictures. I would also like to thank the two reviewers for their valuable comments.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Since yellow businesses have constantly been the target of political suppression in Hong Kong, most of the examples I have used in the article were businesses that are already closed. In fact, I have intentionally omitted some references due to political sensitivity and the omissions have all been stated explicitly.
2 The movement crystalized in 2019 with the Hong Kong government’s introduction of the Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matter Bill, which allows criminal extradition between Hong Kong and China. Protesters were particularly concerned that political dissidents would be subjected to China’s judicial system. The Bill was withdrawn in September 2019.
3 YEC is not the first political consumerism in Hong Kong. For instance, boycotts in Hong Kong can be dated back to 1905, when Hong Kong people joined other Chinese mainlanders in boycotting American products in retaliation for discrimination against Chinese in the United States (Tsang Citation2004, 91). Subsequent large-scale boycotts include those against Japanese products after the “Tatsu Maru incident” in 1908 (Tsang Citation2004, 92; Wong Citation1993), the tram boycott in 1912–1913 (Carroll Citation2007), boycotts on British products in 1925–1926 (Tsang Citation2004), and leftists boycotting food markets operated by the British colonial government during the 1967 riot (Chiu and Hung Citation1999). Political consumerism persists in post-handover Hong Kong. By researching the keyword “boycott” on the Wisenews research engine that archives Chinese newspapers, political consumerism (mostly boycott) was initiated to resist unethical news media (2002, 2006), support China amid disputes with Japan (2005, 2012), and revenge on businesses that were claimed to favor mainland Chinese (2012, 2014). However, these engagements remained sporadic, both in terms of participants and duration, unlike the widely supported YEC. According to a site survey conducted in one of the anti-ELAB demonstrations in January 2020, 71.1% of the interviewees frequently or consistently buycotted yellow shops, while 86.8% engaged in boycotting blue shops (F. Lee Citation2020). Among the interviewees, political consumerism is more prevalent among youngsters under 26 years old.
4 Strikes have been practiced several times during the anti-ELAB movement to push the government to respond to protesters’ demands (Ma Citation2020).
5 A Lennon wall is where “people communicate pro-democracy (and sometimes opposing) messages in simple post-it sticky notes while passers-by would stop, read, write or take pictures” (Ismangil and Lee Citation2021, 18).
6 MTR has been deemed blue after refusing to disclose closed-circuit television footages, which protestors believed the footages captured police using excessive violence in the stations (C. Lam Citation2019).
7 The five demands are full withdrawal of the extradition bill, a commission of inquiry into police brutality, retracting the classification of protesters as “rioters,” amnesty for arrested protesters, and the dual universal suffrages for legislators and the chief executive.
8 The anti-ELAB movement was famous for its flexible characteristics. Protestors adopted different forms of protests apart from conventional marches (Ting Citation2020).
9 The Milk Tea Alliance emerged in 2020 to call for international solidarity against political repression in Hong Kong, Thailand, and Myanmar. One characteristic of the movement is that netizens will use the hashtag “#MilkTeaAlliance” when sharing related posts on social media platforms, including Twitter and Instagram.
10 The anti-ELAB movement came to a halt due to the COVID-19 crisis in early February 2020 and later lost further momentum after Beijing's promulgation of NSL in July 2020 (Chung Citation2020).
11 To clarify, in the non-cooperation movement proposed by Gandhi that fought for self-rule in India in the 1920s, boycotting British and foreign goods was practiced (Dar, Khan, and Zahoor Citation2021). However, Ma’s “non-cooperation movement” is not contextualized with Gandhi’s movement but is simply a general term referring to disrupting society’s normal operation.
12 Apple Daily was a widely circulated tabloid in Hong Kong, known for sensationalist reports and a staunch anti-Beijing stance. For instance, during the 2014 Umbrella Movement that fought for universal suffrage in Hong Kong, the newspaper portrayed the protesters as brave, rational, and orderly, counteracting the discourses from pro-China media organizations (Kwong Citation2015). During the anti-ELAB movement, it published dozens of articles asking for sanctions against the Beijing and Hong Kong governments, one of the reasons that led to the arrest of its founder, Jimmy Lai, in 2020 and five other executives in 2021. The newspaper ceased operation in June 2021. For more, see Kwong (Citation2015) and Tan (Citation2021).
13 According to Kwok (Citation2008), there were 54 seats in total. All voters directly elected 24 members, and the remaining were elected by small-circle functional constituencies representing the economic and professional sectors. Only a small number of eligible electors can vote for the functional constituencies.
14 Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils (天龍八部) is a wuxia novel by Jin Yong.
15 Citation omitted intentionally.
16 Citation omitted intentionally.
17 The shop owner, Herbert Chow, is a high-profile supporter of the anti-ELAB movement. The shop is famous for setting up movement-related decorations, such as the Lady Liberty Hong Kong. Chow has consistently been the target of attacks by pro-Beijing groups, and he has left Hong Kong since 2022.
18 Back then, consumers could choose not to use the app but leave their personal and contact information. However, starting 18 February 2021, all citizens must use the app for dine-in. The requirement was lifted in December 2022.
19 The prosecutor claimed that the election was aimed at paralyzing the administration of the government and thus offended the NSL. All 47 pro-democracy activists who joined the election have been charged. For a comprehensive account, see J. Lam (Citation2021).
20 Snitching (篤灰) is a term that emerged from the slogan “no snitching, no severing of ties” (不篤灰、不割席). It means protesters will not disclose information about fellow protesters’ acts to others, especially the government.
21 The festival emerged when the “international conferences on Anatolia in the 19th and 20th centuries” were banned by the Turkish government in 2019 (Manti Postasi Citationn.d.). In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the Armenian, Kurdish, Assyrian, and Pontic Greek communities in Eastern Anatolia, the peninsula that constitutes most landmass of Turkey today, suffered genocide by the Ottoman Empire (Levene Citation1998). In light of the ban, the conference coordinators came up with the idea to host a dumpling festival as a playful alternative for the conference. According to the coordinator’s website, people are “not just to make dumplings, eat, and listen to speeches, but to show solidarity with us and to take a stance against the restrictions imposed on civil society” (Manti Postasi Citationn.d.)
22 See Çetin, Fethiye’s opinion on the Dumpling Festival: https://www.mantipostasi.com/en/content/thoughts-on-the-dumpling-festival
23 Citation omitted intentionally.