As the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong that began last Friday showed no signs of weakening this week, they also made a symbolic statement. October 1 happens to be the Chinese National Day and the beginning of the so-called “Golden Week” of festivities, but the mood was clearly somber, if not tense, in the former British colony. As both the protesters and the government hardened their stances, the focus shifted to the potential longer term impact on the economic relationship between Hong Kong and China. The protests are essentially political in nature, but there is an economic piece to it, according to Jacques DeLisle , professor of law and political science at the University of Pennsylvania and the director of the university’s Center for East Asian Studies. He said that while China has become less dependent on Hong Kong’s services economy over the past two decades or so, the two continue to have significant economic ties.…