Editor's note: In an interview with CGTN's Wang Guan, Enoch Wong, a Schwarzman Scholar at Tsinghua University, says democracy was not handed to Hong Kong by the British Empire but delivered by the Chinese Central Government. Many young people in Hong Kong don't fully appreciate what Beijing has actually done for Hong Kong over the decades.

Wang Guan: How do you see the link between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong? When it comes to economic links, cultural, academic links? From the perspective of you, yourself, a Hong Kong person, living and studying on the Chinese mainland?

Enoch Wong: The way I see this is, and if Hong Kong people really and people like myself who are very fortunate to be able to understand this is we are a part of China, not just on the sentence and label sense, but to really understand we are part of China.

Certainly, a lot of different opportunities, opportunity to study, opportunity for economic growth, getting jobs, or opportunity for getting housing, etc. Certainly, open up. And if we to compare to any countries around the world, for example, in the U.S., you might be born in one state and one particular county and city. But it's very, very a common to have someone to study and in other states, and then have someone to work on in another state, in the west coast and in the east coast, and in the central area, etc.

And I think really Hong Kong people need to understand that, beyond just having that label and sentence that we are part of China, but really China is one country that we can belong to and to be proud of.

Wang Guan: Yeah. Finally, it has been 24 years since 1997 when Hong Kong returned to China from the British colonial rule. Your reflection and feelings about Hong Kong's return to China, 24 years on?

Enoch Wong: So I think I'm extremely, as a Hong Kong citizen, I'm extremely grateful for the country China and particularly for the Communist Party of China who have supported Hong Kong throughout the last 100 years, ever since from when Hong Kong was still a colonial territory of the British all the way to really fighting for our democracy and freedom when we return back to motherland.

I think this is a very important message that most of the Hong Kong people have missed that our freedom and our democracy wasn't given by the British Empire. But instead, it was fought hard by the central government and the Communist Party of China. So for that alone, we owe a lot to the central government, from giving us water supply to really prioritizing stability and prosperity of Hong Kong, to really protect us from the Asian financial crisis as well. There're so much that. And I am personally been very grateful for.

For the present days, I am extremely, as I mentioned, I'm extremely proud to call myself Chinese, particularly from last year, we have seen how China has handled the pandemic, not only for themselves, but for the rest of the world. Distributing vaccine where not everyone yet have had been vaccinated in China, but yet to consider that we are in one world together, to poverty alleviation for extreme poverty in China. It really demonstrates China's human right on particularly the liberty to life, liberty of health to employment, how the economic growth.

So all this made me extremely proud as a Chinese, and looking towards the future. I'm extremely hopeful. We are working together to create a community of shared future for mankind, ranging from the responsibility for climate action and the pursuit of sustainable development goals to multilateral cooperation from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade deal to the EU-China investment deal. Those are all providing, particular myself and hopeful for lots of Chinese and Hong Kongers as well, brighter and more hopeful future. So I'm grateful, I'm proud and I'm hopeful.

Wang Guan: Thank you so much, Enoch Wong. Come back again.

Enoch Wong: Thank you so much for having me.

Script: Wang Guan

Video editors: Zhao Wenjing, Tao Chenwei

Designer: Qi Haiming

Videographer: Ma Tianwen

Executive Producer: Wang Ying

Supervisor: Mei Yan

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