SEMI-PERIPHERY AND BORDERLAND INTEGRATION - SINGAPORE AND HONG-KONG EXPERIENCES

This paper examines the historial, political and economic forces behin d the borderland integration efforts of Singapore and Hong Kong and th e cross-interests at work between capital, state and community as inte gration proceeds. The comparison between Hong Kong and Singapore shows how colonialization created and maintained herders and how changes in interstate relations led to the closing and the reopening of border h interlands. The pressures of economic restructuring in Hong Kong and S ingapore in the 1980s also fed the borderland integration process. The analysis shows that there are significant differences between the two cases with respect to agency (state versus private capital initiative s) and the structure (bilateral versus a triangular arrangement) and d irection (one-way versus two-way economic linkages) of integration. Th e semi-peripheral status of Hong Kong and Singapore mean that while bo rderland integration can be pursued as an initial strategy of economic 'exploitation' before moving to more distant shores, hegemony cannot be fully achieved because of small size and the absence of military an d economic sanctions wielded by core countries. While borderland integ ration may benefit states and capital, the process is marked by a numb er of conflicts involving federal and provincial government and betwee n sending and receiving communities. Copyright (C) 1997 Elsevier Scien ce Ltd.