Photo: Li Hao/GT
The Global Times annual forum kicked off on Saturday, focusing on China's governance isues in a troubled world. This year the Hong Kong-related issues have for the first time become the focus of discussions at the annual forum amid the ongoing months-long social unrest in the city. 

Other topics, including the Taiwan question, China-US trade war and populism will also be discussed at the forum.

In his opening remarks, Global Times Editor-in-Chief Hu Xijin said one of the most unforgettable things in 2019 must be Hong Kong [social unrest]. He added that there must be a strong force behind the changes that suddenly turned one of the world's largest financial centers to one of the most chaotic and lawless cities in the world. 

He also described the China-US friction as a mixture of opera and "square dancing" and the current relationship between China and the US as turbulent and fraught with uncertainty.

Qiang Shigong, a law professor at Peking University, warned that "we should be cautious of the Hong Kong crisis transforming into a situation like that of Taiwan and that there is danger of the issue becoming one about recognition of the national identity."

Hong Kong lawmaker Junius Ho Kwan-yiu said governing Hong Kong according to law is a basic condition to solve the current problem of the city and he believes the nature of the crisis gripping Hong Kong is an attempted "color revolution" and "currency war." 

Chen Guanghan, a scholar at the Center for Studies of Hong Kong, Macao and Pearl River Delta of Sun Yat-Sen University, said a drawback of Hong Kong's political system is that there is no consultation but only conflict. Executive and judicial departments have such big contradictions that it is difficult for law enforcement departments to carry out their duty.

A problem with livelihood issues in Hong Kong is that the HK dollar is pegged to the US dollar. The US may sabotage China by attacking the HK dollar, said Francis Lui Ting-ming, former director of Economics Department at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

At the forum, analysts also said that education among youth has become a serious problem that plays a role in the social unrest that has been going on for six months. 

At a recent press conference, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Chief Executive Carrie Lam expressed concern about the involvement of students in illegal activities amid the social unrest. 

The police found that among the 6,022 people arrested for offenses including unlawful assembly, participation in riots and possession of weapons since June 9, about 40 percent were students from 300 high schools.

Middle school students' mass participation in violent protests is rare which almost only happened in Hong Kong, which reflects deep-rooted problems in the city's education system, said Tang Fei, a member of the Council of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies.

Gary Wong Chi-him, a non-official member of Commission on Children of Hong Kong, said that some Hong Kong youngsters told him they could not see a hopeful future and could not communicate with the government. 

To solve the current problems in Hong Kong, we need a communication bridge: between local youth and the Hong Kong government as well as between the city and the mainland, he said.