This paper explores the internationalization of higher education initiatives of Hong Kong, being one of the Special Administrative Regions (SAR) of China, within the context of the Chinese Mainland-Hong Kong (CM-HK) relations. Historical, social, economic, and political ties between Hong Kong and the Mainland of China, their economic and political interdependency, and a time series analysis of Hong Kong's University Grants Committee (UGC) statistical data (local and non-local participation, geographic composition, and cost analysis of UGC-funded programs) are used to support what the author calls the "intra-nationalization of higher education." This forms a unique internationalization strategy, whereby a sub-national region such as Hong Kong and possibly Macau, orients its internationalization strategy towards a motherland, in this case China.