A recent survey found that the number of marriages between Hong Kong and mainland residents has exceeded 480,000, with an annual increase of more than 20,000. Such a trend is nothing surprising given the rise of economic standards on the mainland in recent years. However, increasing cross-border nuptial ties are but a telltale phenomenon reflecting the unstoppable integration of the SAR with the mainland in many different aspects.

Some Hong Kong residents still cling to a false sense of superiority over mainland compatriots even though the days when the mainland's average living standards were decidedly below Hong Kong's has long gone. There is no better proof than Guangdong and particularly Shenzhen - Hong Kong's close neighbor and, in more ways than one, competitor. Guangdong became home to arguably all of Hong Kong's manufacturing industry in the 1980s and 1990s thanks to the economic reforms and opening-up, which has been nothing short of miraculous in changing the mainland and to a certain extent, the Asia-Pacific region.

Today many Hong Kong people have found love and happiness on the other side of the boundary - Guangdong -if not deeper into the vast mainland. Most of them began as adventurers in search of job opportunities but ended up settling down and getting married there. One may or may not appreciate the irony of this situation, but the great majority of Hong Kong residents are immigrants from the mainland or their descendants. Like all Chinese they have remained in contact with their mainland relatives for generation after generation through thick and thin. Blood is thicker than water; it is as simple as that.

More and more people have accepted the reality that Hong Kong's socio-economic development is closely linked to the mainland's now more than ever. It will only be even more so in the years to come. The city's future depends on its economic integration with the mainland rather than the other way around, especially with advent of the Belt and Road Initiative and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area city cluster. There is no question Hong Kong must fully commit itself to a leading role that will open up more space for development well beyond its physical boundaries with the mainland.

To do so the special administrative region government must help Hong Kong residents see the bigger picture and fully embrace their status as Chinese citizens living in Hong Kong. As for those still in denial, they should show more kindness and understanding and stop condemning people who follow their hearts regarding life in general - or they themselves will lose other people's respect and love.

(HK Edition 09/27/2017 page8)