The EU Through the Eyes of Asia The Case of Hong Kong Dr Kenneth Chan Hong Kong Baptist University October 2008 1
General Discussion Research Methodology: Media Analysis Daily monitoring of 8 news outlets in 2006 Hong Kong: TVB, Oriental Daily, South China Morning Post and HK Economic Journal Quantitative measures: monthly distribution, type of media outlet, information sources, and the placement and length of articles Qualitative measures: frame, evaluation, centrality, domesticity 2
Research Methodology: Public Opinion Survey On-line household panel survey of 400 respondents in each location, drawn from an existing bank of panellists Stratified sampling by Age and Gender Conducted in November 2006 3
Research Methodology: Elite Interview The selection of 31 key informants across the country and across four sectors (business, civil society, political and media) Data collection via individual face-to-face semistructured on-record interviews lasting up to 1 hour allowing for open-ended questions Interviews conducted between May-October 2007 in national languages (subsequently transcribed into English) Data analysis drew upon both content analysis and qualitative interpretative methodology 4
Issues Addressed Is the EU a recognizable actor in China and Hong Kong? What are the most mentioned images of the EU? How EU-China and EU-HK relations are evaluated? Importance of the EU compared to 3 rd country: present and future Importance of Enlargement and the EURO Issues defining EU-China and EU-HK relations: present and future Sources and Access to EU news and information Opportunities and Obstacles 5
Contours of EU-Hong Kong Relations The EU has become Hong Kong s second largest trading partner in 2006. EU is Hong Kong s third largest source of FDI. Hong Kong serves as a middleman in Sino-EU trade relations, EU s policy towards China receives public attention. European Commission issues Annual Report on HK. EU-Hong Kong first Annual Structured Dialogue took place in November 2007. 6
EU-Hong Kong Trade Relations 2002-2006 (Million Euros) 7
Media Analysis 8
Overall Distribution of EU News Items 9
Overall Distribution of Frames 10
Ranking of Leading External Political News Items 11
EU as an Economic Actor the Most Visible Themes 12
EU as a Social Actor 13
EU as an Environmental Actor 14
Focus of Domesticity (left) and Centrality (right) 15
Evaluations of EU News 16
Most Visible Actors in HK Media 17
Public Opinion Analysis 18
Business/Economic/Market Euro Trade-related issues Economy/Market/Finance EU standards and regulations European Soft Power Travel/Tourism/Visa Requirements / Migration Shopping/Consumer Goods/Food Industry/Science & Technology/Transportation History/Culture/People Football Advanced Countries/High Living Standards Good/Positive Feelings about Europe/EU Negative Feelings about Europe/EU Peace Freedom Dominant Images of the EU 445 235 126 75 19 254 75 61 30 26 22 17 12 4 5 2 19
Dominant Images of the EU EU Integration/Policies/Current and Future Development European Integration/Unity in Diversity European Union/Europe Governance/Politics/Policies Free Movement of People Common Agricultural Policy/Agricultural Subsidies Health Brussels EU Flag Chris Patten Member States 163 84 35 14 9 9 5 3 3 2 123 20
Dominant Images of the EU EU in the World EU-China Relations Environment and Energy EU-Hong Kong Power/Military Power/NATO EU-USA WTO Globalization Human Rights United Nations EU relations with North Korea, Iraq, former Soviet Union WHO 10+3 G7 126 23 14 14 12 11 11 10 10 8 7 3 2 1 21
Perceptions of Most Important Partner: Present N=400 Mainland China USA (America) Asia Japan Europe/ EU 365 272 217 198 186 91.2% 68.0% 54.2% 49.5% 46.5% 22
Perceptions of Most Important Partner: Future Mean SD N 1 China 4.89 0.45 393 2 Asia 3.96 0.93 400 3 Japan 3.93 0.85 397 4 Europe 3.84 0.86 399 5 North America 3.68 1.01 383 6 Britain 3.56 0.89 373 7 Australia 3.12 0.88 390 8 South America 2.93 0.93 381 9 Russia 2.78 0.99 375 23
Perceived State of Relations with EU 24
Perceived Impact of the EU Perceived Impacts of EU 8,2 7,84 7,41 7,36 7,12 7,11 7,1 7,07 6,98 6,95 Top 10 Areas of EU Influence EU-China relations EU as HK trading partner ECB policy EURO Enlargement EU-ASEAN Bird flu Anti-trust law WTO talks EU-US relations 25
Elite Perceptions of the EU 26
Distribution of Elites Civil society sector Media Political Business 8 8 9 6 27
Dominant Images of EU 12 10 8 Frequencies 6 4 2 0 EURO Setting an example for others Flag European integration General positive terms as a place to visit General -ve terms abt inward-looking, arrogant European Civilization / Culture An economic organization A political organization 28
Dominant Images of EU 29
90% of elites agreed that the EU is a great economic power due to the size of the population, economic prosperity and market integration. Some civil society and media elites believed that the EU could serve to some degree as a counter-balance to the US supremacy in global affairs. Interviewees doubted the notion of the EU as an international political leader, or military power. 30
Expectedly, Mainland China was seen by our respondents as having the most direct and powerful impact on Hong Kong. The US took the second place, with the EU coming next. Only one respondent argued that Asia and Japan seemed more important than the EU. Business and government elites described EU-HK relations as close and improving, whereas their media and civil society counterparts tended to be less affirmative. Interviewees had difficulty spotting issues defining EU-HK relations. Interestingly, EU-HK relations were seen through the prism of EU-China relations, in the sense that current and future EU-HK relations were also seen as dependent on EU-China relations. On the other hand, civil society elites stressed the importance of lesson-learning from the EU s environmental policy. 31
EU Importance to Hong Kong (Elite Perceptions, on a scale 1-5) Present Future Civil Society 3.86 4.02 HK Government / 3.75 3.97 Political Media 3.31 3.64 Business 3.20 3.46 Average 3.53 3.69 32
There was a good degree of optimism among our interviewees about the European single currency and the process of enlargement was mostly perceived as presenting an opportunity. EURO vs. US$ Enlargement Better 10% Behind US$ 40% Co-exist 50% Neutral 43% Opportunity 52% Risk 5% 33
On the roles and profile of the European Commission Office in Hong Kong, only about half of the interviewees were aware of the existence of the Office. But those who knew something about the Office were quite positive about its roles and activities. The most frequently mentioned activity in relation to the Office was information exchange. Regarding the bi-annual meeting of Asian and European leaders (ASEM), a majority of our interviewees were not aware of the summit. Few had any impression about the sixth ASEM in Helsinki (September 2006). 34
Looking ahead, the EU s relevance to Hong Kong was expected to grow in the future whilst EU China relations developed. There was a strong consensus among elites to see in the EU considerable potential for lesson-learning and the sharing of values as long as Hong Kong continued to occupy a strategic position in such triangular relationships. 35
Conclusions and Discussion 36
Conclusions EU is perceived as a great economic power and of great importance to Hong Kong. Europe remains culturally attractive to Hong Kong. EU image rather positive and relationship progressing, but remains essentially an economic and trade partners to Hong Kong. The EURO, European integration and the EU flag have become recongizable and unifying images. EU is a political actor somewhere else in the world. 37
Raising EU Visibility through Actions Mass media portrayals are key to the formation of images about a nation s important others. The relatively higher level of reporting enhances the EU s visibility and identity in HK. The EU s proclaimed interests and concerns about post-1997 HK are hardly felt. Proactive European Commission, drawing media attention to how EU actions are relevant to local interests and as a model for integration and a source of policy ideas (workshops for local journalists and students of journalism). 38
Raising EU Visibility through Actions Public diplomacy aiming at sustainable cooperation with non-governmental and non-business sectors: people-topeople contacts and dialogues, policy research, education, cultural activities, environmental issues. European Studies Centres / Programmes need support. 39
Thank You 40
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Contact and Enquires Dr Kenneth Chan Department of Government and International Studies, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong Tel: 3411 5754 Fax: 3411 5799 Email: kklchan@hkbu.edu.hk 42