Ho, KarlWong, Stan Hok-wuiClarke, Harold D.Lee, Kuan-ChenLee, WC2020-05-062020-05-062018-05-20978-3-319-77124-3http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77125-0_6https://hdl.handle.net/10735.1/8505Due to copyright restrictions and/or publisher's policy full text access from Treasures at UT Dallas is not available. UTD affiliates may be able to acquire a copy through Interlibrary Loan by using the link to UTD ILL.This chapter probes the economic dimension of the China factor in Taiwan and Hong Kong politics. We discuss how economic integration efforts affect elections and party competitions in smaller states neighboring China. Research on globalization suggests that freer international trade redistributes wealth among big and small states and reshapes local or regional political cleavages. Growing inequalities among and within these states could consequently reinforce localist identities and pro-independence movements. In the case of China, economic integration manifested in recent free trade treaties with Taiwan and Hong Kong coincides with the rise of localism and state-wide protests against further integration. In this study, we examine the micro-level connections between economic integration and political disintegration using new survey data about public perceptions of China in these societies. ©2018 Springer Nature Switzerland AGen©2018 Springer Nature Switzerland AGInternational economic integrationCulture conflictInternational relationsTaiwanHong Kong (China)ChinaElectionsarticleHo, Karl, Stan Hok-wui Wong, Harold D. Clarke, and Kuan-Chen Lee. A Comparative Study of the China Factor in Taiwan and Hong Kong Elections. Chapter 5 of Taiwan's Political Re-Alignment and Diplomatic Challenges: 119-144, doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-77125-0_6