I remember being 9 years old and asking my parents, “ What am I? Am I Chinese or Taiwanese?” They told me I was both. Yet, when I asked my uncle the same question, I was told I am Chinese, because our grandfather came from mainland China. Twenty years later, the landscape of collective identity in Taiwan has shifted drastically. Many young people nowadays, including myself, identify with the Taiwanese community and stand with social activism that aligns with their collective identity.

When discussing the interconnectedness of identity and social activism, we cannot ignore the importance of democracy. The contribution of democracy is undeniable for it allows social movements to flourish. Since the martial law was lifted in the 1980s, the adoption of Taiwanese identity has been rising gradually. People no longer face prosecution when they express their identity. This, in turn, shapes the Taiwanese politics with their collective identity, thus affecting generations to come.

Similarly, the case of Hongkong provides another entry point into the intertwined nature of collective identity and social activism. The Taiwanese view Hong Kong as a cautionary tale of “One China, Two Systems”. Young people from both Taiwan and Hong Kong are anxious about the growing Chinese influence, but it is especially critical for Hong Kong, for its people fear their rights and futures are slipping away at an alarming rate.

It’s been six months since the 2019 Hong Kong protests began. Nearly two million people joined a demonstration against a controversial extradition bill that will further erode the city’s autonomy. The protest carried on despite Hong Kong administration withdrawing the bill because the government refused to concede to the other four demands, which are: Retracting the mischaracterisation of the protests as “riots”, releasing arrested protesters without charge, an independent inquiry into police behaviour and the implementation of genuine universal suffrage.

At the height of the protests, the Hong Kong Public Opinion Programme and The University of Hong Kong conducted a survey on the people’s self-defined ethnic identity, the same survey that has been carried out twice a year since 1997. The results showed a historic high of 76.3 percent for people who identify themselves as Hongkongers reached, 10 percent higher than the same survey conducted just six months ago.