
Head of Hong Kong arts hub optimistic over East-West partnerships despite Trump
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Since US President Donald Trump took office in January, he has imposed steep tariffs on Chinese products and threatened even more, and given billionaire Elon Musk the mandate to slash government spending and boost efficiency.
In an exclusive interview with the Post, Fung said a recent visit to New York and Washington left her optimistic that arts and culture groups would weather the current turbulence and continue working together.
The West Kowloon Cultural District Authority CEO said arts and culture transcended politics, while both sides were business-minded and any collaborations would be mutually beneficial.
'We should not stop building ties with our counterparts in the US,' said Fung, who was in the United States for almost 10 days. 'Arts and culture form the narrative connecting the world, a view which was widely shared with those we met.'
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She visited the Lincoln Centre for the Performing Arts, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Guggenheim Museum, The Shed and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, as well as the National Gallery of Art and the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art in Washington.
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If you'd lived in America, fallen into a coma in early 2018 and awakened in 2025, you might wonder what became of the US-North Korea conflict. You would remember that at the time you lost consciousness, war seemed almost inevitable. US opinion leaders had convinced you that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) government is irrational or reckless. Nightmarishly, the reputedly crazy North Koreans were trying to develop nuclear-armed missiles. Their steady progress was visible to the outside world through test nuclear explosions and practice missile launches. You would also remember that Pyongyang had repeatedly taunted the Americans, as well as the Japanese and the South Koreans, about its eagerness to nuke them once it had the capability. Outgoing President Barrack Obama had warned incoming President Donald Trump that dealing with North Korea's ambition to get nuclear weapons should be the new administration's top priority. 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Denny Roy is a senior fellow of the East-West Center, Honolulu.


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