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Thursday, 27 September, 2012, 2:42am
Is Hong Kong 'ready' for democracy?
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Lawmakers will have to come up with a compromised version of constitutional reform package to prove to Beijing that Hong Kong is "ready" for democracy.
Is Hong Kong ready for democracy? This is a question that is periodically raised by Beijing loyalists and editorial writers in state-owned media. Their answers predictably provoke outrage, ridicule and derision here at home.
But the two sides are shouting past each other, using the same words but giving them very different meanings.
By any conventional measure, Hong Kong is ready, if there is such a thing. On the UN's human development index, our socio-economic status is ahead of more than 100 full democracies. We are ahead of South Korea, Israel and Germany. Our per capita income, adjusted for inflation, is double or triple that of Spain in 1975, and that of Taiwan, Chile and South Korea when they made the transition to full democracy from the mid-1980s.
But this is not what "pro-Beijingers" mean, and the view of the more thoughtful ones should not be dismissed. Under this view, Hong Kong is "ready" only if there is a "consensus" among key sectors of society on the election methods to be used for the chief executive poll in 2017 and for the Legislative Council in 2020 or thereafter.
This means that under the Basic Law we need a constitutional reform package that can win the support of at least 47 lawmakers - from both pro-democracy and pro-establishment camps - in the new legislature.
A new package will have to be proposed by the government, but it is so weak that it can only serve as a middleman or agent. The key players, as always in such transactions, are the seller and the buyer. The pan-democrats need to sell a version of democracy that the pro-Beijing forces in the legislature can buy. Otherwise, Beijing can block full democracy indefinitely, but at the price of the Hong Kong government's loss of credibility and ability to govern.
The Democratic Party recognised this reality and compromised on the 2010 reform package. Fearing radicalisation within the pan-democratic camp, Beijing reached out at the time. But the pan-democrats still spawned more radical splinter groups, many of whose members now sit in Legco and for whom any negotiation means surrender.
For Beijing, if no one can make a deal it just means that, by definition, Hong Kong is still not "ready".
This article first appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition on Sep 27, 2012 as MY TAKE Willing and able, but are we 'ready'?
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SpeakFreely Sep 28th 2012
11:05am
11:05am
Let me look at the issue in another angle. I would say if we are still addicted to china money, we will never be ready practically as all hk stack-holders namely developers, landlords, middle class owning properties, and government are all relying on properties to survive. Hk people want democracy but addicted to money. These represent a lot of votes! So I don't think we are ready if we are not diversifying from property n china.
ejmciii Sep 27th 2012
5:26pm
5:26pm
Absolutely, Hong Kong is ready for democracy. Hong Kong people are pretty good at making their own decisions. The issue is whether they will make the decisions that Beijing wants them to make. The whole one nation-two systems structure is fraught with risk for Beijing. If they let HK people have a say in how their lives are led, it inevitably leads to the question why can those on the mainland do the same. So as long as the HK people do what Beijing wants, think what Beijing wants and act as Beijing wants, then they can make their own decisions. Any deviation and we are not ready to make decisions because we have not been harmonious in our decisions. We are not making decisions in the way that they want.
notary Sep 27th 2012
2:36pm
2:36pm
By Beijing's definition of democracy Hongkong will never be ready and that is the sad reality.
xiaoblueleaf Sep 27th 2012
2:38pm
2:38pm
If one must generalize, it is within the Chinese "psyche" that an extension of the familial piety is the wish of having a "good" emperor taking care of all his subjects from birth to death - that "democracy" is not inherently embedded within our Chinese people, not having gone through several hundred years of renaissance as in Europe nor the independence war and civil rights struggle of the U.S.; that democracy takes long years to achieve.Having said that, it does not mean that HKers, or for that matter any people, do not deserve to enjoy democracy, however, imperfect that may be. The best example may be that of Taiwan when Ah Bian was elected president against the KMTs; then being kicked out for excessive corruption. Taiwan was deemed by many as unready for democracy then. Hong Kong will never have true democracy until China has; it is better than not having any. The struggle must go on for democracy is not so much about voting rights, but the safeguard of justice, lawfulness, protection of individual rights, freedom of speech etc. etc. Imperfect democracy is still better than no democracy.
deerlai Sep 27th 2012
4:04pm
4:04pm
Many people raise Taiwan, as an example, to prove that democracy is also suitable for Chinese. However, is it really a good example? We should observe the fact that Taiwan's development occurred under the governance of Chiang Jing-kuo, before the adoption of democracy. After his death, there is so-called "democracy", but almost no development. "An Bian was kicked out for excessive corruption" - yes, it is true, but there is still less-than-excessive corruption in Taiwan.
Camel Sep 27th 2012
2:08pm
2:08pm
Hong Kong is ready for more political rights - full democracy - if the people in HK finally realise and learned how to use it or what kind of responsibility they would have with the rights given to them. Voting rights are not toys you use to play around. Any mistake/success you make in your vote will define the country for a long period. Currently, the people really do not know what they are doing. To know that you need political education. Something the former British Administration denied the HK People for 150 years during colonial rule. That is also the reason why HK was denied an immediate introduction of full democracy in HK after handover. At the end, the government of the city must be able to govern and rule. If not, all democracy granted to the people is useless.
jpinst Sep 27th 2012
9:24am
9:24am
How can you have constitutional reform without all of the LEGCO and CE being elected by universal suffrage? It will be seen as illegitimate. Normally this is not done or accepted as true reform in the modern context. I also do not agree that Beijing can block democracy indefinitely. We can already see the population getting restless and they are expecting universal suffrage in 2017, which is ten years later than the Basic Law allowed for such to be established. If Beijing renege and attempts to continue to block democratic reform in Hong Hong, who knows who the people will react, but I would expect at least a lot more civi disobedience.
deerlai Sep 27th 2012
8:27am
8:27am
Before 1997, I still believed in Democracy, which would be in the interest of HK. After these years, I see how democracy, though not fully, operates in HK. I started to reconsider this issue. Same kind of trees grow different fruits when planted in different regions and soil. We can see democracy operating in different countries resulted in different development - some good and some bad. Can we just simply believe in the term "Democracy" and trust that HK should go for it immediately without considering our own situation?
I compare the situation of HK before and after 1997 - the former without any democracy and the latter with some. I heartily hope that HK could return to the years of 1980s. Now I can only feel the chaos of the society. Too many ones, under the cover of democracy, insist their right at the expense of the development of HK. HK has been suffering.
If Democratic Party believes in Democracy, the Party should think of a better path in achieving it - not to sacrifice the well-being of HK people.
I compare the situation of HK before and after 1997 - the former without any democracy and the latter with some. I heartily hope that HK could return to the years of 1980s. Now I can only feel the chaos of the society. Too many ones, under the cover of democracy, insist their right at the expense of the development of HK. HK has been suffering.
If Democratic Party believes in Democracy, the Party should think of a better path in achieving it - not to sacrifice the well-being of HK people.
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