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the Hong Kong public were largely indifferent to such issues.
To the Hong Kong Chinese, the political arena that commanded their attention, or participation, was not the one that existed in the Colony but the one that existed in China. They developed national (that is, Chinese) rather than local orientations. I cannot say that this general conclusion can hold beyond Hong Kong and extend to all other overseas Chinese communities. But given the surprisingly strong penetrating power of the concept of China and the enduring identity of being Chinese, I will not be surprised to find that Hong Kong's experience is not unique.