who is the villain and who is the victim?

Second prompt: I imagine that Hong Kongers must've felt extremely conflicted. Although Hong Kongers generally believed that they didn't belong to any country, their sense of belonging could still be grounded in this liminal city that had been their home for over a century. With the reunification, they suddenly had to adhere to a different set of ideologies and political practices that could've felt foreign to them, which would've complicated their cultural and personal identities.

First prompt: The characters' romanticisation of Hong Kong at the start of the film foreshadows the contradictory reality that is endured by the characters during their time in the city. Despite Li Qiao's attempt to blend into the HK society by lying about her mainland Chinese origin, she can never settle or find a sense of security in this city. She is constantly hustling and trying to acquire material possessions that she thought could give her a higher socio-economic status or sense of belonging that would make her feel at home in Hong Kong. But she soon realizes that home is not a place defined by language, culture, or wealth. There is quote by Naguib Mahfouz that reads "Home is not where you are born; home is where all your attempts to escape cease." I think this idea is fully embraced by this film. In one of the last scenes in New York, where a tourists tells Li Qiao that many mainland Chinese have returned to their motherland for better opportunities, the once-opportunity-seizing Li Qiao seems to resist the idea of returning back to China. It suddenly feels like a foreign place to her. When Xiaojun and Li Qiao finally meet again in the end, it's clear to us that home is found in this love and connection that they share with each other. Home is not something that can be defined by politics, it's a form of human need that can only be fulfilled from within.