New Books in History Christine Loh, "Underground Front: The Chinese Communist Party in Hong Kong" (Hong Kong UP, 2018)
Mar 1, 2026
Christine Loh, former Hong Kong legislator and founder of Civic Exchange, digs into the Chinese Communist Party's long game in Hong Kong. She traces early 20th-century activity, covert networks like Xinhua and front organizations, and united front tactics. The conversation covers 1967 unrest, post-1997 outreach, youth sentiment, and the Greater Bay Area's implications.
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Hong Kong As A Unique CCP Barometer
- Hong Kong serves as a revealing lens on the Chinese Communist Party because it is both part of China and a distinct colonial-derived political space.
- Christine Loh argues Hong Kong's unique history makes it a barometer for CCP strategies and one-country-two-systems tensions.
Legislative Questions That Sparked The Book
- Christine Loh raised formal legislative questions in the 1990s asking how the Communist Party would operate after 1997, provoking pushback for 'stirring fear.'
- Her experience as a legislator gave her a ringside seat on the transition and motivated the book's research from public sources.
1920s Labor Strikes Seed CCP Networks
- Early 20th-century labor activism in Hong Kong helped seed communist influence across the border.
- Loh links 1920s Hong Kong strikes and labor organizing to broader Chinese Marxist attraction and the CCP's early regional networks.
