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Twenty years late, decolonization is coming to Hong Kong
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Mikael Forsberg
Jun 3, 2017, 3:39:13 AM6/3/17
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Twenty years late, decolonization is coming to Hong Kong
By Thomas Hon Wing Polin Source:Global Times Published: 2017/6/2 15:33:45
Two decades after Hong Kong's formal return to China, decolonization of
the territory seems set to start in earnest. Top Chinese leaders,
hitherto remarkably hands-off, appear to have decided that enough is
enough - that Hong Kong cannot be allowed to continue drifting in a
direction that would jeopardize the nation's interests.
For the first time, China is demanding that Hong Kong enact long-delayed
national security legislation, as required under Article 23 of the Basic
Law. Zhang Dejiang, who heads the National People's Congress (NPC) and
handles Hong Kong affairs in the Standing Committee of Political Bureau
of CPC Central Committee, also explicitly spelled out that Beijing has
de facto, as well as de jure, sovereignty, and that it is the source of
all legal authority in the territory. He warned that a few people in
Hong Kong should not confront the central government in the name of a
"high degree of autonomy."
In 1997, China regained sovereignty over Hong Kong. The flag changed, a
tiny People's Liberation Army contingent replaced its British
counterpart, and the NPC was allowed to interpret the local Basic Law a
few times. As Beijing promised, horse-racing and ballroom-dancing
continued. All manner of freedom remained unchanged. Indeed, license to
criticize government authorities (both local and central) was
substantially expanded, together with the influence and activities of
anti-Beijing forces who called themselves "pro-democracy." Queen's Road
remained Queen's Road, and King's Road stayed King's Road.
More fundamentally, thanks to 150 years of British colonialism, the
educational and judicial systems, as well as the civil service and mass
media, were dominated by subscribers to the viewpoints and values of the
Western imperium that has long dominated the world. Those values were
invariably marketed as "freedom," "democracy" and "human rights."
Unfortunately for Hong Kong and its people, in substance they meant
helping the US-led Empire perpetuate its global domination through
predatory capitalism, war-mongering and political destabilization.
Back in the 1980s, China had agreed to implement in Hong Kong the One
Country, Two Systems (OCTS) arrangement. That implicitly meant the Anglo
imperium could continue to do business as usual after the British crown
colony became China's first Special Administrative Region (SAR), so long
as such activity did not spill into the mainland itself.
The protections inherent in OCTS gave local anti-Beijing forces, working
with the Empire's agents, the cover they needed to paralyze Hong Kong's
governance with their relentless political obstructionism, protests, and
ideological hounding of those with different views. One result: Once the
can-do capital of the world, Hong Kong became synonymous with an
inability to legislate and implement significant public policy. In
global rankings, the former Pearl of the East dipped in most meaningful
areas of human endeavor.
The deterioration plumbed a nadir with the 79-day "Umbrella Revolution"
of 2014 and the violent Mongkok riots last year. Those milestones in
local history, together with growing calls for Hong Kong independence,
probably made up Beijing's mind to put the wayward SAR on a tighter
leash. Certainly, Hong Kong's ever-patient people themselves are
increasingly fed up with the ever more petty and puerile antics of the
"pan-democrats," which have done untold harm to the community.
There's another dimension HongKongers tend to miss. They see the drama
as a local issue. The central government does not. It has just wrapped
up a highly successful inaugural summit for its Belt and Road initiative
(B&R), which seeks to connect and transform the Eurasian landmass
through an endless array of mutually beneficial trade and development
projects. If successful, the B&R could challenge and even in time
displace the West's conflict-fueled, rent-seeking world order. That's
why the Empire will attempt to undermine Beijing's historic initiative,
not least through its intensifying efforts to contain China and
destabilize the country's peripheral regions, including Hong Kong.
In 2003, when the central and SAR authorities backed down on Article 23
after the pan-democrats mobilized a 500,000-strong protest, Hong Kong
contributed to as much as 30 percent of the Chinese economy. Today, this
number declined to 3 percent. Those economic numbers may have been the
final piece in Beijing's calculations. The conclusion: Now is the right
time to have a national security law in Hong Kong.
The author is a former senior editor at the international newsweekly
Asiaweek (English) and founding editor of Yazhou Zhoukan.
opi...@globaltimes.com.cn
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1049745.shtml
---
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By Thomas Hon Wing Polin Source:Global Times Published: 2017/6/2 15:33:45
Two decades after Hong Kong's formal return to China, decolonization of
the territory seems set to start in earnest. Top Chinese leaders,
hitherto remarkably hands-off, appear to have decided that enough is
enough - that Hong Kong cannot be allowed to continue drifting in a
direction that would jeopardize the nation's interests.
For the first time, China is demanding that Hong Kong enact long-delayed
national security legislation, as required under Article 23 of the Basic
Law. Zhang Dejiang, who heads the National People's Congress (NPC) and
handles Hong Kong affairs in the Standing Committee of Political Bureau
of CPC Central Committee, also explicitly spelled out that Beijing has
de facto, as well as de jure, sovereignty, and that it is the source of
all legal authority in the territory. He warned that a few people in
Hong Kong should not confront the central government in the name of a
"high degree of autonomy."
In 1997, China regained sovereignty over Hong Kong. The flag changed, a
tiny People's Liberation Army contingent replaced its British
counterpart, and the NPC was allowed to interpret the local Basic Law a
few times. As Beijing promised, horse-racing and ballroom-dancing
continued. All manner of freedom remained unchanged. Indeed, license to
criticize government authorities (both local and central) was
substantially expanded, together with the influence and activities of
anti-Beijing forces who called themselves "pro-democracy." Queen's Road
remained Queen's Road, and King's Road stayed King's Road.
More fundamentally, thanks to 150 years of British colonialism, the
educational and judicial systems, as well as the civil service and mass
media, were dominated by subscribers to the viewpoints and values of the
Western imperium that has long dominated the world. Those values were
invariably marketed as "freedom," "democracy" and "human rights."
Unfortunately for Hong Kong and its people, in substance they meant
helping the US-led Empire perpetuate its global domination through
predatory capitalism, war-mongering and political destabilization.
Back in the 1980s, China had agreed to implement in Hong Kong the One
Country, Two Systems (OCTS) arrangement. That implicitly meant the Anglo
imperium could continue to do business as usual after the British crown
colony became China's first Special Administrative Region (SAR), so long
as such activity did not spill into the mainland itself.
The protections inherent in OCTS gave local anti-Beijing forces, working
with the Empire's agents, the cover they needed to paralyze Hong Kong's
governance with their relentless political obstructionism, protests, and
ideological hounding of those with different views. One result: Once the
can-do capital of the world, Hong Kong became synonymous with an
inability to legislate and implement significant public policy. In
global rankings, the former Pearl of the East dipped in most meaningful
areas of human endeavor.
The deterioration plumbed a nadir with the 79-day "Umbrella Revolution"
of 2014 and the violent Mongkok riots last year. Those milestones in
local history, together with growing calls for Hong Kong independence,
probably made up Beijing's mind to put the wayward SAR on a tighter
leash. Certainly, Hong Kong's ever-patient people themselves are
increasingly fed up with the ever more petty and puerile antics of the
"pan-democrats," which have done untold harm to the community.
There's another dimension HongKongers tend to miss. They see the drama
as a local issue. The central government does not. It has just wrapped
up a highly successful inaugural summit for its Belt and Road initiative
(B&R), which seeks to connect and transform the Eurasian landmass
through an endless array of mutually beneficial trade and development
projects. If successful, the B&R could challenge and even in time
displace the West's conflict-fueled, rent-seeking world order. That's
why the Empire will attempt to undermine Beijing's historic initiative,
not least through its intensifying efforts to contain China and
destabilize the country's peripheral regions, including Hong Kong.
In 2003, when the central and SAR authorities backed down on Article 23
after the pan-democrats mobilized a 500,000-strong protest, Hong Kong
contributed to as much as 30 percent of the Chinese economy. Today, this
number declined to 3 percent. Those economic numbers may have been the
final piece in Beijing's calculations. The conclusion: Now is the right
time to have a national security law in Hong Kong.
The author is a former senior editor at the international newsweekly
Asiaweek (English) and founding editor of Yazhou Zhoukan.
opi...@globaltimes.com.cn
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1049745.shtml
---
Detta e-postmeddelande har sökts igenom efter virus med antivirusprogram från Avast.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus
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