Political forecast is for a cold and bitter 2017 in Hong Kong
C.K. Yeung fears the frustration about political reform may boil over when the next chief executive election gets underway, unless we can start working towards compromise now
March 2017 looks set to be the coldest spring in Hong Kong's history unless we can bring about a political climate change. That is the month when five million voters were supposed to elect the chief executive, had the political reform package not been voted down. Instead, many will hit the streets.
Without universal suffrage, we will do things the old way - election by the 1,200-member Election Committee. But it may not be quite that simple, as there is no way the 40-odd per cent of Hong Kong people who opposed reform will take it lying down.
One can easily picture the 2017 election scene. Every candidate and every step he or she takes along the electoral process will be dogged by protests, both vociferous and, quite likely, violent.
The last CE election took place at the Asia World Expo at Chek Lap Kok. Will the protesters occupy the airport this time?
Occupy Central pushed the authorities to the brink, and they are unlikely to brook another massive civil disorder. They may even quietly welcome a new round of violent protests as that would justify deploying People's Liberation Army troops in Hong Kong to restore public order - and more importantly to remind Hong Kong people not to go too far and who ultimately calls the shots.
Leung Chun-ying should stop trying to be commander-in-chief and start being the coalition-builder-in-chief
Hong Kong doesn't need such a reminder. The overwhelming majority of us embrace our motherland. Any high-handed crackdown would only alienate the moderates. A whole generation of young hearts will be lost forever.