Law Beyond Borders: Transnational Legal Pluralism Following Hong Kong’s New Reality

Abstract: Hong Kong is a region undergoing rapid social, political, and legal change as mainland China seeks to increase its control over the previously largely autonomous region with laws such as the national security law which asserts its jurisdiction beyond borders, complicating matters for Hong Kongers living abroad. The effects of law asserting its jurisdiction beyond borders is contingent on the relative dependency of states, as can be seen in the South Korean strategy with regards to the national security law where the state has sought to maintain “strategic ambiguity” in order to balance US and Chinese relations. An Ambiguous approach provides an increased opportunity for other forms of normative orderings to enter the social sphere, having an impact on Hong Kongers who now find themselves in a new legal reality not only in Hong Kong but in a wider transnational context as a result of China's political influence. This thesis seeks to answer the question of how Hong Kongers living in South Korea navigate the context of transnational legal pluralism through a qualitative approach, analyzing eight in-depth semi-structured interviews, utilizing theoretical perspectives from legal pluralism and state influence. Findings indicate that Hong Kong law manages to exert influence and regulate life across borders, maintaining a large presence in the lives of Hong Kongers in South Korea where it exists in competition with a multiplicity of normative orderings in a changing social field, making it important for states committed to human rights to participate in the dynamic reconfiguration of the law.