Actually TT you didn't--- you said "whether" the chinese own HK. That implies an argument over ownership. There isn't one. HK is part of China.

Many countries have areas where the inhabitants speak a different language, not just a different form of the same one. Think of India, Belgium, Switzerland, the UK---and so on, and there are plenty of countries where one part is much more 'couth' than other parts!

What will influence us all, and which you have not addressed, is the effect of the millions and millions of Chinese who still live at sub-standard levels becoming eager consumers. I think this would cushion China from some of the effects of a world wide recession (which has not happened yet. Some countries are, for various reasons, still OK.