The people of Hong Kong have been experiencing an identity crisis ever since the British returned the colony to China in 1997 and it became a Special Administrative Region with special privileges (for 50 years). Although they are proud of their Chinese ethnicity, culturally they have always felt overwhelmingly Western and therefore much different from their cousins on the mainland. Now they have a new worry: a growing threat to Hong Kong’s economic success. The Chinese government recently announced its plan to turn the city of Shanghai into a global financial and shipping centre by 2020, a move that is seen as weakening Hong Kong’s traditional and profitable position as international gateway to mainland China. Even worse, China’s friendlier relationship with former enemy Taiwan is already reducing transit commerce through Hong Kong. After an economic contraction of almost 8% earlier this year, Hong Kong is feeling real pain, and the jobless rate could approach record levels. So the normally hands-off local government has sprung into action: it has announced two rounds of tax cuts and various handouts to the poor and to businesses. In addition, the city’s long-term planners have recommended that Hong Kong’s government focus on developing six fields – including education, environmental-related industries, and medical technology – in which Hong Kong already has an edge.