Silencing the voices of dissent
The visit to Guangdong by 59 members of the Legislative Council was hailed as a success by the media. The visit came about partly because Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen advised the central government to allow legislators who had been banned for over a decade to set foot on the mainland again.
In spite of the handover, there has been no normalisation of relations between the mainland and Hong Kong, because many democratically elected Legco members cannot travel to the mainland. Beijing's hostility has raised eyebrows here and overseas, and it has been asked to lift the ban. Mr Tsang also favours removing it. Despite the visit, many pro-democracy legislators are still not allowed to visit the mainland.
Aided and abetted by an increasingly pliant media, the powers that be portrayed the visit in a bizarre way.
Instead of highlighting the unreasonable decision to ban pro-democracy legislators and dissidents, much of the media played up Beijing's magnanimity. Some academics warned banned politicians to behave themselves, lest they should fail the test and not be allowed to visit again. As a sign of changing times, such warped logic has been swallowed hook, line and sinker by some Hong Kong people.
Similar tactics are being deployed with even more dexterity to promote the constitutional-reform proposals. Instead of taking responsibility for the administration's policy initiatives, officials have tried to shift the blame to those who do not support them.
It is an indisputable fact that the majority of Hong Kong people want universal suffrage in 2007 and 2008. Later this month, Chief Secretary Rafael Hui Si-yan will unveil the limited proposals for constitutional development. Instead of urging Beijing to respect the wishes of the people, the administration has cranked up its propaganda machine to denigrate supporters of full democracy, branding them intransigent and unrealistic.
The head of the Central Policy Unit, Lau Siu-kai, warned that if the administration's proposals failed to win the legislature's support and no incremental changes are possible, pro-democracy legislators should be blamed. When I met Mr Tsang in August, I told him he should step down to take responsibility for any such blunder.
In the past few months, the media has gone into overdrive to promote harmony and co-operation, urging the public and political parties to be 'rational' and to back the administration's political reform package. It is no exaggeration to say the Guangdong visit was organised with an eye to improving the atmosphere and gaining legislators' support for the proposals. Apart from promoting harmony through propaganda, people with dissenting views are being sidelined and marginalised.
We are being told that fighting for democracy by 2007 is a waste of time because Beijing has already ruled it out; and further, that many Hongkongers are willing to settle for a slower pace of political reform. Such arguments are hollow and fatuous.
If we fight only for what Beijing allows, then it is a sad day for Hong Kong.
It is regrettable that so many in the media have allowed themselves to be used as tools for targeting political enemies. Since the free and independent news media are withering away, one must seriously question how the rule of law and other freedoms can be preserved.
Emily Lau Wai-hing is a legislative councillor for The Frontier
