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How Hong Kong can keep the talking going when US-China officials don’t

Read the original at South China Morning Post ↗
Cite

Lai, N. (2026, September 22). How Hong Kong can keep the talking going when US-China officials don’t. South China Morning Post. https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3368057/how-hong-kong-can-keep-talking-going-when-us-china-officials-dont?utm_source=rss_feed

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

South China Morning Post · collected 2026-09-22 · by Neville Lai

Quick Summary

The article discusses Tung Chee-hwa’s legacy as Hong Kong's first postcolonial chief executive, focusing on his role in maintaining dialogue between China and the United States through private channels via the China-US Exchange Foundation he founded. The piece highlights how Track 1.5 diplomacy—conducted by unofficial representatives with significant influence—facilitates continued communication when official relations are strained. Liu Haixing’s recent statement at a China-US Track 1.5 Dialogue in Beijing emphasizes the need for both countries to pursue shared interests while managing their disagreements, aiming for a stable but competitive relationship.
Written by AI on 2026-09-22, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

When Tung Chee-hwa, Hong Kong's first postcolonial chief executive, died in 2023, his legacy was marked not just by his time as leader during the Asian financial crisis and SARS epidemic but also by his role in maintaining dialogue between China and the US. Tung established the China-United States Exchange Foundation in Hong Kong in 2008, a platform for senior officials from both countries to communicate even when their governments were at odds, operating outside formal diplomatic channels. This form of unofficial diplomacy, known as Track 1.5, was instrumental during periods of tension between Beijing and Washington. Recently, at the China-US Track 1.5 Dialogue in Beijing, Liu Haixing, head of the Communist Party’s International Department, reiterated the importance of expanding shared interests to achieve "normal stability with controllable disagreements" between the two nations.

Written for “Hong Kong Us China Relations” on 2026-11-04, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Hong Kong Us China Relations
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans right and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
State funeral honours Hong Kong’s first post-colonial leader Tung Chee-hwa Different event
Al Jazeera
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 1 of 16 claims Outlet record 60/100
“Article A describes the state funeral of Tung Chee-hwa held on a specific date, while Article B discusses his political career and significance upon his death but does not report on the same event.”
How China is seeking to transform the meaning of great power Different event
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⚖️ Leans left further left than this Hedges 1 of 6 claims Outlet record 62/100
“The articles discuss different topics related to China's influence and its relationship with Hong Kong, but they do not describe the same specific incident or occurrence.”
WHO’S FUTURE IS IT: CHINA OR THE WEST? Different event
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Outlet record 60/100
“The articles discuss different topics and do not describe the same specific incident or occurrence.”
To understand where Hong Kong is going, start with Tung Chee-hwa Different event
South China Morning Post
⚖️ Leans left further left than this Hedges 1 of 8 claims Outlet record 62/100
“While both articles discuss Tung Chee-hwa's death and its significance to Hong Kong's history, they do not clearly describe the same specific incident or time period.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
8
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 8 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans right
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
62/100
South China Morning Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-22 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

South China Morning Post · 3754 article(s) · 8 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 8 correction(s)
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Who wrote this

Neville Lai
1 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 His working instrument was the China-United States Exchange Foundation, which he established in Hong Kong in 2008, the year marking the 30th anniversary of Sino-US relations, to keep senior Americans and Chinese talking when their governments would not.
2026-09-22 · assertive framing · How Hong Kong can keep the talking going when US-China officials don’t
The only article under this byline in the corpus.

Topics

Article 23 Asian China Hong Kong the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference

Subjects

Hong Kong GPE · 2× Tung PERSON · 2× Americans NORP · 1× Asian NORP · 1× China GPE · 1× Chinese NORP · 1× Sino-US NORP · 1× Tung Chee-hwa PERSON · 1× the China-United States Exchange Foundation ORG · 1× the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference ORG · 1×

Narrative

At the recent China-US Track 1.5 Dialogue in Beijing, Liu Haixing, head of the Communist Party’s International Department, said both countries should expand the “pie” of shared interests and reject zero-sum games to reach “normal stability with controllable disagreements”.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-22
🔮 His working instrument was the China-United States Exchange Foundation, which he established in Hong Kong in 2008, the year marking the 30th anniversary of Sino-US relations, to keep senior Americans and Chinese talking when their governments would not.
2026-09-22 · South China Morning Post
How Hong Kong can keep the talking going when US-China officials don’t · assertive framing

Claims (8 extracted, 0 hedged)

When Tung Chee-hwa died, the obituaries predictably described a Hong Kong shipping mogul who became the city’s first postcolonial chief executive. asserted
who → die → mogul
How his government navigated the Asian financial crisis and severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) epidemic and its retreat from Article 23 were highlighted. asserted
navigated → navigate → Article
There was less attention paid to the political hybrid he embodied. asserted
he → be → hybrid
Tung sat as vice-chairman of China’s top political advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, until 2023 – state-leader rank, no diplomatic portfolio. asserted
Tung → sit → 2023
His working instrument was the China-United States Exchange Foundation, which he established in Hong Kong in 2008, the year marking the 30th anniversary of Sino-US relations, to keep senior Americans and Chinese talking when their governments would not. asserted
governments → work → Americans
Standing without a mandate, exercised through a private vehicle: that is Track 1.5, and Tung was very good at it. asserted
Tung → stand → it
At the recent China-US Track 1.5 Dialogue in Beijing, Liu Haixing, head of the Communist Party’s International Department, said both countries should expand the “pie” of shared interests and reject zero-sum games to reach “normal stability with controllable disagreements”. asserted
countries → say → disagreements
This is not the stuff of summit headlines but of realistic ambition: neither a friendship nor a divorce, but a managed rivalry where shared interests can grow and the rest is fenced off. asserted
rest → manage → ambition
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