Let’s hope Hong Kong bookseller saga does not mean the end of ‘one country, two systems’

Might it be permissible, under the rare circumstance, of course, for an Ame­­rican journalist to speak positively about a Communist leader and a particular policy? If yes, then permit into evidence one Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平), the diminutive chain-smoking maximum leader who, though with almost as many major faults as California, probably carried around a political brain the size of Texas. His achievements include two that remain particularly relevant to the issue at hand: the future of Hong Kong and its principle of “one country, two systems”.

Deng’s recasting of China’s economy to unleash the entrepreneurial work ethic of countless Chinese meant curbing his government’s grinding enthusiasm for intervention in the economy. That one big forward burst of self-recognition and policy flexibility (too bad India’s Nehru never developed such vision) helped tee up a second Deng brilliancy: setting down as policy upon the future acquisition of Hong Kong a sensible formula to protect and enhance its success.

With ‘one country, two systems’ formula in place, Hong Kong need not fear criticism from overseas

And this meant curbing the enthusiasm of know-it-all comrades in Beijing inclined to intervene like mad in the affairs of the former British colony. Bluntly put, Deng was smart enough to know that his comrades, however otherwise capable, could not possibly be smart enough to micromanage from up north, and certainly not without greatly unnerving capable Hongkongers: and so came “one country, two systems”, the label for maximising autonomy.

Booksellers: claims vs counter-claims

Allow me a personal note first, OK?