Hong Kong's role as a higher education hub reflects colonial legacies, geopolitical tensions, and the commodification of cross-cultural exchange
Original framing: “Bridging East and West, Hong Kong offers talent the best of both worlds” — South China Morning Post
Hong Kong's education system was designed during British colonial rule to serve imperial interests, and its current structure still reflects those legacies. The APAIE conference's celebration of 'bridging East and West' ignores how colonial education policies created hierarchies between Western and Eastern knowledge systems. Historical parallels, such as the British Empire's use of education to spread cultural hegemony, are absent from the narrative.
The APAIE conference in Hong Kong reflects the city's colonial legacies, geopolitical tensions, and the neoliberal structures of global education.
While framed as a celebration of cross-cultural exchange, the event obscures the power dynamics between Western and Eastern knowledge systems, the suppression of academic freedom, and the environmental and economic costs of market-driven education models. Historical parallels, such as the British Empire's use of education to spread cultural hegemony, are absent from the narrative, as are Indigenous and marginalized perspectives. Alternative models, such as land-based learning and cooperative education, are ignored in favor of a transactional approach to knowledge. To create a more just and sustainable global education system, the conference must decolonize its frameworks, strengthen academic freedom, promote sustainable models, and foster cross-cultural dialogue beyond binary categories. This requires centering marginalized voices, challenging colonial hierarchies, and envisioning education as a collective, rather than individualistic, endeavor.