Description
Liminality is generally considered an ontologically insecure position for political actors. That explains why scholar suggests ways for liminal actors to escape liminality through actions in relation to the hegemonic actor or discourse. This paper argues the contrary. It contends that political actors can find ontological security within liminal situations if they interact and manage their liminality with other like-minded liminal actors because they can offer recognition and support to each other. Using the case of political party interactions between Hong Kong and Taiwan in the post-handover years, this paper will show that living under the geographical and political proximity of a powerful China, political parties there would rather stay within the liminal space than be absorbed into China’s sovereign space. Political parties interacted with partners who shared ideology to gain recognition and support for their ontological security. However, the interactions were constantly challenged by the China factor which was exerting influence domestically and transnationally in the post-handover years. Thus, the paper further illustrates how political parties dynamically adjust their interactions to achieve ontological security. It will contribute to how ontological security can account for the dynamics of transnational interactions, which is often a critique of the framework.
