Absolutist pan-democrats risk another NPC interpretation

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Alex Lo is a senior writer at the South China Morning Post. He writes editorials and the daily “My Take” column on page 2. He also edits the weekly science and technology page in Sunday Morning Post.

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Benny Tai Yiu-ting.

The idea of opening the chief executive nomination to every voter sounds great on paper. Another is to let everyone have a say in designing Hong Kong's future democratic system.

The first idea is advocated by Scholarism led by teenagers; the second by legal scholar Benny Tai Yiu-ting. If these are the ends they seek, occupying Central - or at least the threat of doing it - is the means. Many people support them without realising such efforts are counterproductive. These activists believe, mistakenly, that they can exert enough pressure on Beijing to agree to an idealised democracy that they claim would meet international standards such as those set forth in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In reality, they are no more than irritants to the central government. Beijing is the only one who holds the Sword of Damocles. Specifically, it is the ever-present possibility of an interpretation of the Basic Law relevant to universal suffrage by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

In 2004, fresh from our victory at shelving the Article 23 internal security law, many people were - like now - agitating for full democracy for the 2007 chief executive and 2008 Legislative Council polls. In response, Beijing produced an interpretation against it. While I am hopeful that today there are moderates on both sides who can cut a deal, the probability is high that the coming public consultation and ensuring debate will become so acrimonious that the Leung Chun-ying administration will request a Standing Committee interpretation to end it.

You may think this would backfire and start a revolution. Not necessarily. Suppose the interpretation is "liberal" enough that it amounts to an advance over last year's chief executive election.

In their demand for all or nothing, most of the 27 pan-democrats will reject such a reform package in Legco, but there may still be some swingable votes from a few pan-dems - enough to secure a two-thirds-majority passage - who will think getting something is better than nothing. To avoid an NPC intervention, we need to start fighting for the realistic and possible, not the perfect and ideal. In other words, start behaving like adults rather than following idealistic children.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Beware the NPC interpretation

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This article is now closed to comments

whymak Sep 21st 2013
10:16pm

321manu:
"Universal suffrage isn't just great in theory; it is a legitimate, worthy, and defensible principle. "
Proof? Moses parted the Red Sea. Mary's virgin birth. On the third day, Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven.
Sure, these are reproducible experiments to folks like you and Benny Tai, Cardinal Zen, Martin Lee and Lai Chee Ying.
If you love wars, financial meltdowns, the bottom 99 per cent perpetual class struggle against the top 1 cent, gridlocked governments and other mindless lowest cultural common denominators, try Democracy. I just quote you the shortest list of reproducible experiments confirming the nature of Democracy.
What makes Democracy an a priori and First Cause? Inability to reason and low level of intelligence.
My nuanced praise of Democracy cultists like you with mass "intelligence" is not to be confused with either a pro or anti China stance.

321manu Sep 22nd 2013
2:35pm

No, random musings gleaned from bastardized snippets of scripture certainly are not proof of anything. Nor did I at any point suggest they were. And universal suffrage being a legitimate, worthy, and defensible principle is certainly not substantiated by scientific proof in the manner of prospective randomized placebo controlled trials. However, I would suggest a survey of first world nations, being mindful of how many utilize democratic principles, and how many do not. Now, I realize that the CCP likes to sprinkle in "democratic" here and there to describe how she does things, but please, don't make me laugh. You might also choose to note how many such nations subsist on authoritarian rule. It isn't scientific proof, but you might find it enlightening nonetheless. Of course, you might also consider whether scientific proof is abound that authoritarianism is the way to go.
Your "if" statement presents a false dilemma (which is a logical fallacy, btw). You should also note that the PRC's income and wealth Gini this year aren't exactly moving in an encouraging direction (the Gini index being a metric for disparity wrt those characteristics).
Personally, i'm not sure why people are so keen to live in a system that tells them what to think, and controls what they can say. I certainly know of no intelligent person who would choose to subjugate themselves in this way. I don't know if you are intelligent, but you make choices that intelligent folks might otherwise not.

captam Sep 22nd 2013
10:50am

Spot on whymak!
The democrat "cultists" (what an appropriate term) shut their minds completely to the implosion of the democracies of Africa and the Middle East and also to the slow progressive decadence of Western democracy, as the rich and powerful manipulate elections. The world's most powerful "democratically elected" man, the U.S. President is impotent even in his own country, retaining only the power to interfere and bomb and maim citizens in far lands.
Five thousand years of recorded history teaches that people need to be ruled. The current form of Western-style democracy (with each person having an equal vote) has only been around for less than 60 years. What on earth causes today's young thinkers to conclude that this new and relatively untested form of government is superior? The warning signs of its weakness and failures are already abundantly clear. Why are they so blind?

mbophui Sep 22nd 2013
12:48am

@whymak:
All those things you mentioned such as wars, financial crises, inequality, etc. were FAR worse under the Communist governments. It was only due to Liberal & Capitalist reforms that China was able to pull out from the carnage & stagnation of the Mao era.
As for proof that Democracy works, the most powerful nations on Earth are all Democracies, what more proof do you need than that? If you're hoping for a future Superpower China that is non-Democratic, you're living in a fantasy world, keep dreaming. Sorry man, it's not the 8th century Tang Dynasty anymore.

whymak Sep 22nd 2013
3:38am

Many people in India have drug resistant TB. Do you want some of that too?
As for wars and financial crises, I am afraid you have to learn to count again like children in kindergarten. You're entitled to your opinions, not facts.

whymak Sep 22nd 2013
2:54am

Define Democracy.
China today is no more communist than HKers are democrats of early America. Democracy has not yet achieved the long life spans of many past dynasties. All dynasties rise and decline into oblivion. Read history.
Of course there are different types of democracies. Hong Kong Democracy Sect is strictly for monkey-see-monkey-do morons.
Democracy waged the overwhelming majority of wars in the last two centuries. One thing democrats aren't is peace loving.
No, I am not against Democracy. But I love to mock one-size-fits-all Democracy airheads.

321manu Sep 22nd 2013
2:52pm

Democracy is definitely more than just suffrage. An effective democratic system requires the rule of law, democratic institutions such as an independent judiciary, a constitution of some form, in addition to universal suffrage. Ironically, the thing which HK really lacks is the latter. On the one hand, I find debates predicated on "democracy=voting" to be mindless in the extreme. On the other hand, in HK's case, it is the final substantial barrier.
In contrast, in mainland China, suffrage is small potatoes, cuz they don't have any of the other pillars of democracy in place.
The democracy and war thing you're obsessing about is silly. China had an entire period is history named after being at war. Does that mean Chinese people are war-mongers? If you are intelligent as you seem to claim, I am hoping that your writing will soon start to reflect that.

mbophui Sep 22nd 2013
6:42am

Democracy in it's simplest terms is one-man one-vote. As simple as that may sound, this basic right gives way to a whole multitude of other rights that follow such as press freedom, which is probably the most important right of all.
If you are dreaming of a future non-Democratic Chinese "super-future-dynasty", it's not going to happen. Or you can try North Korea, because that's what they believe. The Modern world is Democratic, and has been for the past couple centuries already.

captam Sep 22nd 2013
11:07am

@"The Modern world is Democratic, and has been for the past couple centuries already."
Rubbish!
The "mother" of parliamentary democracy, Britain did not extend voting rights to the masses until the Representation of the People Act of 1918
Women did not get unrestricted rights to vote in many democracies until the 1920's ( France not until 1944).
Blacks in USA did not have true unrestricted votes until 1960s.
Native indigenous peoples still lack full voting opportunities in some democratic jurisdictions.
60 years of experimentation with full "democracy" is not "a couple of centuries"

wwong888 Sep 22nd 2013
1:23pm

one thing is for sure... NOT OF YOU MORONS HAVE A SAY IN HOW WE ARE GOVERNED... that is the main thing I am thankful for on this rainy day... Oh and whymak - go f-ck your mother... and Captam, you boot licking Uncle Tom... f-ck you... you little sh-t... apparently we need to be ruled by a dictatorship because we can't think for ourselve... time, place, name it, i am gonna kick you skull in... but i won't need to... you are likely an old unemployed irrelevant sh-t that comes to this comment section to be heard... your time is almost up