海角大神

Wing and Gabbie Wong had been thinking about moving abroad even before Chinese President Xi Jinping鈥檚 speech here on Saturday. But Mr. Xi鈥�s stern warning against challenging Beijing鈥檚 rule over the semiautonomous city reaffirmed many of their greatest fears.

鈥淲e want to protect our way of life, but it鈥檚 getting harder year by year,鈥� says Mr. Wong, a salesman for a fashion company. 鈥淗ong Kong is losing its identity.鈥�

And so he and his wife want to move to Japan,听where a friend has offered to help them apply for work permits and open a coffee shop. Ms. Wong says that at least there they could raise their 18-month-old daughter free from mainland China鈥檚 growing 鈥� and, in her and her husband鈥檚 minds, corrosive 鈥� influence.听

Twenty years after Hong Kong鈥檚 reunification with China,听many residents in this prosperous global city say much of the change that has occurred since then hasn鈥檛 been for the better. Soaring housing costs and widening inequality听are among their top concerns, but many are equally nervous about the threat mainland China poses to Hong Kong鈥檚 culture and identity.

鈥淧eople are worried that Hong Kong is becoming just another mainland city,鈥� says Stephan Ortmann, an assistant professor at the City University of Hong Kong. 鈥淭he city is dying for many of them.鈥�

Beijing's red line

Xi exacerbated those concerns in the speech he delivered at this weekend's anniversary ceremony, marking the anniversary of the 1997 day that Hong Kong was returned to China after more than 150 years of British rule. Under the arrangement known as听鈥淥ne country, two systems,鈥� Hong Kong was supposed to听retain relative autonomy and civil rights for the next 50 years.

While the Chinese leader acknowledged Saturday that the city is a 鈥減lural society鈥� with 鈥渄ifferent views and even major differences鈥� from the mainland, he also said that its liberal way of life has its limits.

鈥淎ny attempt to endanger China鈥檚 sovereignty and security, challenge the power of the central government ... or to use Hong Kong to carry out infiltration and sabotage against the mainland is an act that crosses the red line and is absolutely impermissible,鈥� Xi warned.

The speech was a clear message to the tens of thousands of people who took to the streets Saturday afternoon in an annual pro-democracy protest. Implicit in their calls for freedom of speech and self-determination was a deeply rooted desire to preserve Hong Kong鈥檚听way of life, one that has long been defined in opposition to the mainland.

鈥淲e want to have freedom,鈥� says Alex Chan, a 35-year-old nurse who joined in the 鈥淯mbrella Movement鈥� in 2014 to demand free elections. Nearby, a group of people carried a banner calling for the release of Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo, who was recently听moved from prison听in northeast China to a hospital for cancer treatment.

Many of the people who marched on Saturday say their freedom is under threat by Beijing鈥檚 increasing control.听They point to a series of recent interventions by the central government that they say violated Hong Kong鈥檚 mini-constitution, known as the Basic Law, and promoted a climate of fear.

One of the most prominent cases occurred in 2015, when Chinese authorities appear to have abducted five booksellers who sold gossipy stories about mainland officials. Similar suspicions were raised earlier this year when an influential billionaire, Canadian citizen Xiao Jianhua, went missing from his hotel suite. And late last fall, Beijing intervened in Hong Kong鈥檚 independent legal system to block two pro-independence politicians from taking their seat in the city鈥檚 legislature.

Hong Konger first

Sonny Lo, a political commentator in Hong Kong, says Beijing鈥檚 heavy-handedness has led more and more young people to distance themselves from the mainland and to see themselves as Hong Kongers first and foremost. Only 3.1 percent of those between 18 to 29 years old identify themselves as broadly 鈥淐hinese,鈥澨齛ccording to a听听released last week. The figure stood at 31 percent听in 2006.

They鈥檝e also grown to resent the mainland Chinese who have poured money into Hong Kong鈥檚 housing market and made it one of the world鈥檚 most expensive places to live. The rising cost of living has squeezed young people and middle-class families especially hard. Unable to afford a place of their own, Mr. Chan and his wife have rented an apartment from one of his relatives for the last 10 years.

Then there鈥檚 the rising anxiety about language. Longtime Hong Kong residents say it was rare to hear Mandarin, the official language of China, on the streets a decade ago. Now, with the influx of mainland tourists, it has become common.听Cantonese is still the听听for 89 percent of Hong Kong residents. But big international companies and banks increasingly prefer to hire fluent Mandarin speakers who can help negotiate deals on the mainland.

Growing sensitives over language extend to politics as well. Carrie Lam, Hong Kong鈥檚 newly selected听leader, took her oath of office and delivered her inaugural address in Mandarin after Xi鈥檚 speech on Saturday. She spoke briefly at the end in Cantonese. Later that night, a fireworks display included simplified characters for the word 鈥淐hina鈥� rather than the traditional characters used in Hong Kong, a move that was widely criticized here.听

Looking ahead

As divisions over identity and culture deepen with the mainland, Hong Kong鈥檚 separatist movement continues to grow 鈥� as well as pressure听to put an end to it. Xi鈥檚 speech hinted that he wants the city鈥檚 government to introduce new legislation against subversion, which critics fear will provide a pretense to rein in criticism of Beijing. He also said Hong Kong should 鈥渟tep up the patriotic education of young people,鈥� a highly controversial idea. Mass protests听shelved a similar plan in 2012.

Victoria Hui, a political science professor at the University of Notre Dame who closely followed the Umbrella Movement, says young people are sure to resist. Many have already started to question Beijing鈥檚 commitment听to 鈥淥ne country, two systems,鈥� doubting that听the central government will allow Hong Kong to maintain its own legal, economic, and local political systems until 2047. Even if the central government does uphold its side of the agreement, what happens then?

鈥淔or me, I鈥檒l likely be dead,鈥� says Dr. Hui, a pro-democracy advocate who grew up in Hong Kong. 鈥淔or听young people,听this is something real. They can't just allow听to have听鈥極ne country, one system.鈥� For them, everything matters.鈥�