Face in cross-cultural political discourse

Sino-British Hong Kong relations during the final troubled five years of British rule in the former British colony provide the context for this case study in cross-cultural political discourse analysis. Application of a model of Chinese face proposed by Bond and Hwang (1986) provides a means for explaining certain aspects of the breakdown in communication that occurred between the Chinese and British Hong Kong governments during that period. The study contributes to an understanding of an important real-world issue, while demonstrating the explanatory power of Bond and Hwang's model. At the same time, the study highlights problems with 'universal' models of face because of their lack of emphasis on cultural relativity.