Paper short abstract:

Governmental recognition of romantic intimacy involves a particular political form of waiting. This paper looks at how couples Hong Kong-Mainland couples, citizens of one country with multiple differentiated categories of citizen manage the emotional labour of their relationship with the state.

Paper long abstract:

The subject in love is supposedly meant to be self-governing, with its new "clock" set to "zero" (Povinelli 2006). When a new marriage between a Mainland Chinese Hukou holder and Hong Kong Permanent resident takes place, the state begins a clock that count downs the number of days (14610 or 4 years in 2014) before the Mainland spouse is eligible for a "one-way permit" to live and work in Hong Kong. In exchanging their wedding vows, they enter complex highly gendered politics of waiting. One that means that thousands of commute through passport control from their workplaces in Hong Kong to apartments in Shenzhen to be with their spouses. This paper explores the state, familial and romantic politics of this seemly arbitrary period of waiting. A state of being deeply entwined with negotiations between colonial powers over Hong Kong's role in the global economy for hundreds of years. The paper focuses on the emotional labour of remaining optimistic that the state will reward the subject for their patience in light of the border and regions turbulent history. Weaving scholarship on optimism and the PRC's transition to capitalism with work on inheritance and intergenerationality with dialogue from cross-border couples, to bring into focus both the fragility and potential of the subject in love under our current regime of global capitalism.