Two Tasks for Political Theorists

During the pandemic, Hong KongHong Kong, one of the most globalized and multicultural cities in the world, was practically shut off from the outside world with its draconian COVID-19COVID-19 quarantine policy. In the meantime, the escalating tension between ChinaChina and the US made the residents of this beautiful city increasingly wary of its future as the center of a global business hub where “the East meets the West,” marked by free trade, free press, and free exchange of ideas. Now that the border is finally open and the quarantine measures have all been lifted, the city’s political leaders are busy trying to reinstate its prideful status as Asia’s best international city. At the same time, businessmen and women are preoccupied with recovering from the economic setback caused by the pandemic and the deteriorating US-China relationshipRelationship. What should academics do under these dramatically changed social, economic, political, and publicPublic health circumstances? Despite our different disciplinary backgrounds, one thing the co-organizers of this workshop agreed upon was to reactivate our role as the facilitators of a dialogue, a serious one, that can help bridge the (perceived) differences between the Confucian East and the Liberal West and promote a vigorous intellectual exchange among scholars from both parts of the world toward a deeper mutual understanding and the global common good.