Throughout history, there are three clues of dualistic structures for the development of Hong Kong’s nativism. First, inward attribution and outward lookingare two paths to the formation of Hong Kong’s nativism. In the dualistic framework of “self-others”, nativism is formed. The formation path of “outward looking”can be seen everywhere in the construction history of Hong Kong’s nativism. It is under the reflection of “two mirrors” with Britain and Chinese mainland that Hong Kong people acquire the concept of “Hong Kong’s nativism”. Second, there are two aspects of Hong Kong’s nativism: economic and cultural aspect and political aspect. With the gradual development of Hong Kong’s history, these two aspects come into being and are closely bound up, thus constituting Hong Kong’s nativism today. The third clue is the most critical one. The subjectivity of colonization and decolonization are two different forms of Hong Kong people’s subjectivity.
These three clues run through the whole process of the construction of Hong Kong nativism, and are carried out in three stages of development: “Origin (1960s-1970s): Preliminary Construction of Hong Kong’s Nativism”, “Development of Hong Kong’s Nativism (1980s-1997): Awakening of Political Aspect” and “Formation and Alienation of Hong Kong’s Nativism (1997-present): Deformed “decolonization”. Along the evolution of Hong Kong’s nativism, with the disintegration of colonialism, Hong Kong people have gradually transited from the subjectivity of colonization to the subjectivity of decolonization, but the process of “decolonization” has not been completed up to now.
When nativism loses its native complex from the perspective of “inherent in China”, and further develops into the “separatism” of anti-constitutional system and anti-national continuity and unity, it will challenge the stability of the relationship between the central government and the Special Administrative Region under the “one country, two systems”. At the same time, it will have a greater impact on the political structure and the rule of law system of Hong Kong, and trigger a series of public law problems that need to be solved urgently. In this regard, on the one hand, we should re-clarify the relationship between the central government and the region under the “one country, two systems” in light of the new situation of democratic political development in Hong Kong, and improve Hong Kong’s governance mechanism on the basis of the constitution and the basic law; on the other hand, we should actively learn from the German defensive democracy system to systematically interpret, integrate and apply Hong Kong’s existing legal resources so as to effectively curb the development of local separatist forces.