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Saturday, 12 January, 2013, 2:15am
Radical agenda becomes crystal clear
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"Never the twain shall meet."
This Post headline crystallises for me why the pan-democratic camp has become so radicalised and why that bodes ill for Hong Kong's future.
A reference to a famous poem of arch-imperialist Rudyard Kipling, it causes me - please excuse the inelegance - to think this is what the pan-dems really want: Hong Kong is Hong Kong and the mainland is the mainland, and never the twain shall meet.
Whether they admit it or not, this is the hidden aspiration of many if not most of the pan-democrats, along with their supporters among the post-1980s and 1990s generations.
This is why any attempt by the government to maintain or promote good relations with any mainland authority is automatically suspect, and why Beijing's liaison office cannot make the most innocuous pronouncement or gesture without being denounced as interfering in Hong Kong affairs.
Take, for example, the appearance of the office's new chief, Zhang Xiaoming, at a youth forum this week. A policy wonk and career expert on local affairs, Zhang is more qualified than most of his predecessors. But he was criticised for keeping a low profile since his appointment more than a month ago by critics who suspect he may harbour hidden nefarious intent. Now that he has made a public speech defending his office as having a legitimate role in the city, he is rounded on for, well, showing up!
Democratic Party boss Emily Lau Wai-hing said Zhang must show restraint. She said, and I am not making this up: "Whether you travel on the MTR or in a car, or whether you see subdivided flats or luxurious mansions on The Peak, don't come out and make irresponsible comments."
Actually, all Zhang has disclosed is that he had travelled on the MTR and visited a low-income neighbourhood to learn more about local livelihood issues. It used to be that Beijing's interference meant meatier actions like pressing the government to legislate for an anti-subversion law. Now a visit to poor people or accident victims qualifies as such.
It seems nothing mainland officials do will satisfy the pan-dems other than folding up tents and going home. Alas, that will never happen.
This article first appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition on Jan 12, 2013 as MY TAKE Radical agenda becomes crystal clear
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4Comments
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whymak Jan 14th 2013
7:25am
7:25am
When the US General Consul and US Chamber of Commerce express their displeasure at SAR government, bananas accept their strong-arm tactics as lobbying, an accepted practice of democracy. When our compatriots at the liaison office express condolences, Emily Lau calls it interference in Hong Kong affairs.
Now what do you call her standing side by side with Lee Teng ****, the former president of Taiwan, after he said in no uncertain terms that Diaoyu Island is rightfully Japanese territory? Many Chinese and Taiwanese consider him a traitor.
What gives her the right to interfere in Taiwan and China affairs?
Now what do you call her standing side by side with Lee Teng ****, the former president of Taiwan, after he said in no uncertain terms that Diaoyu Island is rightfully Japanese territory? Many Chinese and Taiwanese consider him a traitor.
What gives her the right to interfere in Taiwan and China affairs?
bmr Jan 12th 2013
3:33pm
3:33pm
pslhk
When push comes to shove
Doubters and dissenters
reach for ancient philosophy
and cry -
"it must be foreign interference"
In the global environment
as a whole
Where democracy is touted
on the whole
It may be a truth that can hold
But in HK
alas it must be told
The RPDF buffoons on the whole
are a local creation
it's known
No Western government
Nor Eastern
Nor other
Could hold any great hope
For universal polls
With Long Hair and
his friends on a roll
So forgive me
for not acquiescing
But their skewed
concept of democracy
and fair play
are China's problem
alone.
When push comes to shove
Doubters and dissenters
reach for ancient philosophy
and cry -
"it must be foreign interference"
In the global environment
as a whole
Where democracy is touted
on the whole
It may be a truth that can hold
But in HK
alas it must be told
The RPDF buffoons on the whole
are a local creation
it's known
No Western government
Nor Eastern
Nor other
Could hold any great hope
For universal polls
With Long Hair and
his friends on a roll
So forgive me
for not acquiescing
But their skewed
concept of democracy
and fair play
are China's problem
alone.
tennisboy Jan 12th 2013
12:27pm
12:27pm
I think it is time we re-label the pan-democrat group from pro-democracy group to anti-government group. By calling them the pro-democracy camp, there is the notion that their opponents--most of which support the government--are anti-democracy, which is not the case at all. The pro-government camp in Hong Kong seek democracy as well, but differ in their road to achieve democracy. The pro-government camp prefer to work closely with government, while the pan-democrats try to use any means to disrupt and discredit the government. Besides influencing a group of children that do not know better and enjoy the brief attention that is placed on them during protests, they have done more harm to their reputation as legitimate political parties than anything else.
pslhk Jan 12th 2013
11:30am
11:30am
When push comes to shove,
these Radical Pan Dem Fools,
from Ho Loy to Kemal B,
are turning
HK’s leading productive sector,
if not also its silent majority,
pro CCP.
Devil you know is better than one you don’t
CCP has learnt from experiences but not RPDF
Hopeful support became reasonable doubts; all prove futile.
RPDF have sufficiently demonstrated their destructive stupidity
For their self-serving purposes,
RPDF are unwittingly or corruptively
Instruments of foreign agents
these Radical Pan Dem Fools,
from Ho Loy to Kemal B,
are turning
HK’s leading productive sector,
if not also its silent majority,
pro CCP.
Devil you know is better than one you don’t
CCP has learnt from experiences but not RPDF
Hopeful support became reasonable doubts; all prove futile.
RPDF have sufficiently demonstrated their destructive stupidity
For their self-serving purposes,
RPDF are unwittingly or corruptively
Instruments of foreign agents
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