University Of Hong Kong’s Department Of Japanese Studies: Promoting Academic & Policy-related Research

Abstract

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of the People's Republic of China was established on July 1, 1997, but the regionfs ties with Japan, East Asia and the world long predated Hong Kong's return to China. Historically, Hong Kong has established significant linkages with regional countries as a trading and logistical hub. Since 1842, Hong Kong's status as a British colony meant that the territory enjoyed unprecedented connections and intimate links with the West, enabling it to play a leading role in the modernization of China through the absorption of ideas from the West and increasingly from Japan after the Meiji Restoration. Throughout the Cold War, Hong Kong once again was the only significant Chinese-majority territory with links to the Western world and the non-Communist bloc. Hong Kong's unique position enabled it to play a critical role as a gateway for the world to get a glimpse into Communist China and a window for the Chinese to connect globally and acquire foreign technology expertise and know-how. Today more than ever, the HKSAR continues to shine as one of Asia's most cosmopolitan cities and a global financial hub as well as being the bastion of China's 'One Country, Two Systems' developmental model.

Equipping New Generation of Specialists for Japan & Asia-Related Studies

Since the end of World War II, Japan has emerged as one of Hong Kong's most significant trading partners. According to the Consulate-General of Japan in Hong Kong, Japan is currently Hong Kong's third-largest trading partner after mainland China and the United States, and Hong Kong is Japan's eighth-largest trading partner. Bilateral trade in 2010 totaled 3.83 trillion yen, with Japan's exports accounting for 3.70 trillion yen and imports from Hong Kong accounting for 133 billion yen. Statistics from Hong Kong's Census and Statistics Department indicated that the overall total of Japan's direct investment in Hong Kong reached US$21.6 billion as of the end of 2009 — making Japan the fourth-largest investor in Hong Kong after China, the Netherlands and the US. In turn, Hong Kong is the 12th-largest recipient of Japan's outward FDI worth US$1.6 billion.

Yet, despite the intimate relationship between Hong Kong and Japan that even predates the founding of the University of Hong Kong a century ago, it was not until the mid-1980s that the university set up its first...