China's United Front Work in Civil Society: the Case of Hong Kong

This article unravels China’s united front work in dealing with civil society, using the case of Hong Kong after the political handover since 1997. While it has been widely analyzed by scholars that state corporatism characterizes the state-society relations in China, including the state’s relations with its autonomous regions, Hong Kong as a special administrative region, however, shows that the ruling strategies of China are very adaptive. Comparing with the rest of China where the united front work is partly characterized by a heavy-handed policy of assimilation, the united front work in the post-handover Hong Kong illustrates a more inclusionary version of state corporatism through five types of measures, namely, integration, cooptation, collaboration, containment, and denunciation. The strategies range from soft to hard tactics, and are adopted depending upon whether the central government regards its targets as friends, valuable potential cooptees or enemies. Nevertheless, the soft and hard tactics used in parallel in Hong Kong have resulted in further politicization and polarization of the civil society, and transformed the tension between the state and the local groups into clashes between different local groups, as seen in other autonomous regions such as Tibet and Xinjiang. Over the years, the agents for state corporatism have been ever expanding in Hong Kong. The ideologies propagated have now gone beyond consensus and harmony to also include patriotism and reinterpre-tation of other political ideas, including universal suffrage, conducive to cultivating obedience.postprin

Impact of competing values and choices on democratic support in Hong Kong

This paper examines the reasons for the relatively low democratic support (DS) in Hong Kong in the context of competing values and choices based on the previous Asian Barometer Surveys. In so doing, it establishes a three-factor theoretical model that includes survey attitudinal statements related to authoritarianism (AU), nationalism (NA) and economic evaluations (EC) on DS. Using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), the analysis shows that the hypothesized model is a very good fit. The Hong Kong people's relatively low DS, in terms of their unconditional support for democracy and the degree of democracy they want for Hong Kong, can be well explained by the three factors in combination. The factors have various extent of impact on DS, with AU being the strongest, followed by EC, and then NA. The paper contributes by illustrating the usefulness of CFA in political values research, unraveling the comparative importance of the values and choices in affecting DS, and establishing a model for further testing. © 2012 The Author(s).published_or_final_versio

Promoting hybridity: The politics of the new Macau identity

This article traces the unique process of reconstructing the identity of the Macau Special Administrative Region and its people after the political resumption to China in 1999, and the political and economic significance of the reconstruction. As in other postcolonial contexts, identity is an arena of political contest where various discourses that embody re-appropriation of political traditions and legacies criss-cross. In Macau, the post-handover identity comprises the local, the national and the international components, with Macau characterized as a historical, colonial/cultural hybrid and economic object. In fact, the Macau identity after 1999 represents a re-appropriation of the image of colonial Macau propagated by the Portuguese administration since the 1980s. Also, identity making has been a process of incorporating instead of repressing or eliminating the identities of "the other", and building a stand-alone national identity is not the prime task in the reconstruction of an identity. Rather, multiple identity components are deliberately incorporated and promoted. The success of the process has fabricated Macau's relatively smooth reintegration with China and enhanced the legitimacy of its new government. © 2010 The China Quarterly.published_or_final_versio

Comparison between empirical prokinetics, Helicobacter test-and-treat and empirical endoscopy in primary-care patients presenting with dyspepsia: A one-year study

Aim: To investigate the optimal strategy to treat dyspeptic patients in primary care. Methods: Dyspeptic patients presenting to primary care outpatient clinics were randomly assigned to: (1) empirical endoscopy, (2) H pylori test-and-treat, and (3) empirical prokinetic treatment with cisapride. Early endoscopy was arranged if patients remained symptomatic after 2 wk. Symptom severity, quality-of-life (SF-36) as well as patient preference and satisfaction were assessed. All patients underwent endoscopy by wk 6. Patients were followed up for one year. Results: Two hundred and thirty four patients were recruited (163 female, mean age 49). 46% were H pylori positive. 26% of H pylori tested and 25% of empirical prokinetic patients showed no improvement at wk 2 follow-up and needed early endoscopy. 15% of patients receiving empirical cisapride responded well to treatment but peptic ulcer was the final diagnosis. Symptom resolution and quality-of-life were similar among the groups. Costs for the three strategies were HK$4343,$1771 and $1750 per patient. 66% of the patients preferred to have early endoscopy. Conclusion: The three strategies are equally effective. Empirical prokinetic treatment was the least expensive but peptic ulcers may be missed with this treatment. The H pylori test-and-treat was the most cost-effective option. © 2006 The WJG Press. All rights reserved.published_or_final_versio

Depoliticization, citizenship, and the politics of community in Hong Kong

This article critically examines the government discourses on citizenship and community in Hong Kong from the 1960s to the present. By making special reference to the government's discourses on three public events - the 1966 Star Ferry riots, the 1981 riots, and scuffles such as those that took place at the Cultural Center, Tsimshatsui, on Christmas and New Year's Eve of 2002 - it reconstructs the meaning of good citizenship as promoted by the Hong Kong colonial and Special Administrative Region (SAR) governments, respectively. These three public events are selected as cases highly indicative of what the government expects an ideal citizen to be because all of them aroused substantial public attention which subsequently invoked considerable government discourses and action. Citizenship is built upon a shared sense of community. Considered in this context, this article also traces the understanding of community of the governments, as it is intertwined with the notion of citizenship, through the development of government policies on youth and citizen education in the city from the 1960s onward. It is obvious that citizenship is constituted from both above (by the government) and below (by the civil society). By reconstructing the government discourses in this regard, this paper will shed light on part of the process of citizenship making in Hong Kong. © 2005 Taylor & Francis Group Ltd.postprin

Differing coping mechanisms, stress level and anorectal physiology in patients with functional constipation

Aim: To investigate coping mechanisms, constipation symptoms and anorectal physiology in 80 constipated subjects and 18 controls. Methods: Constipation was diagnosed by Rome II criteria. Coping ability and anxiety/depression were assessed by validated questionnaires. Transit time and balloon distension test were performed. Results: 34.5% patients were classified as slow transit type of constipation. The total colonic transit time (56 h vs 10 h, P<0.0001) and rectal sensation including urge sensation (79 mL vs 63 mL, P = 0.019) and maximum tolerable volume (110 mL vs 95 mL, P = 0.03) differed in patients and controls. Constipated subjects had significantly higher anxiety and depression scores and lower SF-36 scores in all categories. They also demonstrated higher scores of 'monitoring' coping strategy (14±6 vs 9±3, P = 0.001), which correlated with the rectal distension sensation (P = 0.005), urge sensation (P=0.002), and maximum tolerable volume (P = 0.035). The less use of blunting strategy predicted slow transit constipation in both univariate (P = 0.01) and multivariate analysis (P = 0.03). Conclusion: Defective or ineffective use of coping strategies may be an important etiology in functional constipation and subsequently reflected in abnormal anorectal physiology. © 2005 The WJG Press and Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.published_or_final_versio

Skin banking in Hong Kong - the development and experience in Queen Mary Hospital

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Maintenance H2-antagonist is not necessary after eradication of Helicobacter pylori in bleeding peptic ulcers

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Increasing prevalence of advanced colonic polyps in young patients undergoing colonoscopy in a referral academic hospital in Hong Kong

Aim: To investigate the distribution and frequency of advanced polyps over eight years. Methods: 6424 colonoscopies were reviewed during the study period 1998 to 2005. The study period was subdivided into period I: 1998 to 2001 and period II: 2002-2005. Results: 1856 polyps (33% advanced polyps) and 328 CRCs were detected. The mean ages of the patients with advanced polyps and cancer were 69.2 ± 12.0 and 71.6 ± 13.8 years, respectively. Advanced polyps were mainly left sided (59.5%). Advanced polyps were found in patients ≤ 60 years from 17.7% in period I to 26.3% in period II (P 0.05). Conclusion: Advanced polyps increased significantly in the younger male group in the most recent period and there seems to be a shift towards a proximal location. © 2007 WJG. All rights reserved.published_or_final_versio

Normal 24-hour ambulatory proximal and distal gastroesophageal reflux parameters in Chinese.

OBJECTIVE: To quantify normal proximal and distal oesophageal acid parameters in healthy Chinese. DESIGN: Observational study. SETTING: University teaching hospital, Hong Kong. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Twenty healthy adults who were not on medication and were free from gastrointestinal symptoms were recruited by advertisement. Ambulatory oesophageal acid (pH5 minutes, 4/0; and the longest single acid exposure episode, 11.2/3.0 minutes. CONCLUSION: Physiological gastroesophageal reflux occurs in healthy Chinese. These initial data provide a preliminary reference range that could be utilised by laboratories studying Chinese subjects.published_or_final_versio