Shenzhen is usurping some of Hong Kong’s traditional roles. The factories, with their attendant pollution and cheap labour, have now moved north. Professor Yang Lixun, a member of the Shenzhen Communist Party Committee, admitted that the city was growing too fast. The way to control growth, he said, was to move the factories outside Shenzhen. Hong Kong had downloaded this job to Shenzhen, and now Shenzhen must find a growing, needy city to accept its tired, its poor, its huddled knock-offs.
Hong Kong’s traditional role as broker between the mainland and the outside world is also being eroded by Shenzhen, as business people increasingly go directly to the mainland. And it is largely Hong Kong money that is fuelling the monster, bringing Shenzhen closer every day. Such is the nature of capitalism; it doesn’t realize it has consumed itself until everything goes dark.
