It is also assumed that what exists in the metropole is better. It is assumed that local academic standards cannot be trusted even in the heartland of the tradition of Confucian meritocracy, with its devotion to examinations. The goal of international validation is laudable, but the result is in the long run very damaging to the academic community, intellectual life, and scientific research in Hong Kong. There are many unintended results. Perhaps most important, the development of indigenous academic infrastructures of journals, publishers, and even of ideas is stifled.
Local scholars seek to publish their work abroad.
They look to the methodological and substantive interests of the international scientific community, thus ignoring local topics and needs. Everyone is looking abroad because they are forced to conform to international scientific norms. Many Hong Kong scholars find it difficult to publish in the major international journals. Those whose first language is not English face challenges in writing for journals in the United States or Britain. Topics relevant to Hong Kong may not appeal to journal editors in the West.