Wine from the vines of protest
Last July, on handover day, I joined the hundreds of thousands who marched peacefully against misgovernment. I will do so again tomorrow, in a spirit of respect and gratitude for the small improvements that have taken place over the last year in this great Chinese city in transition.
None of these changes would have happened without the enormous shock created by last year's demonstration, or the central government's harsh reaction. In the past year, Beijing has used classic united-front tactics to marginalise its critics while employing more sophisticated lobbying to tap mainstream support. For all the wrong reasons, the results have been overwhelmingly positive.
A brand-new dialogue has sprung up between democrats and the central government, leaving Hong Kong's local leaders scrambling to open their own lines of communication after years of holding themselves aloof.
Less visible but no less significant is a gradual change of mindset on the part of Hong Kong's business, professional and bureaucratic classes. These people have long followed technocratic formulas for success, eased by the top-down traditions of the British colonial service. July 1, last year, told this group that Hong Kong was no longer satisfied with its performance. Tomorrow's event is likely to underline the new reality that this has become a political city.
The new Hong Kong mindset includes a sophisticated approach to political risk, taking advantage of private-sector networks to build consensus for public policy. Of the pilot projects that carry over into Hong Kong's relations with its provincial neighbours in the mainland, the Greater Pearl River Delta Business Council is the first to make business a full partner in a government-to-government project to move towards economic integration across the delta and beyond. Victor Fung Kwok-king, its chairman, brings years of experience working with senior policy advisory councils to the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation organisation. Mr Fung has convinced the 32 members of the Greater Pearl River Delta Business Council to form working groups and provide their own staff support, instead of relegating research and memorandums to a government secretariat - as is the norm for Hong Kong's advisory committees. One of the results is that the council is focusing on practical needs of business in the delta, such as closing gaps in the delta's transport network.
'We are trying to say, let's remove all these barriers, to the extent that any impediment to the flow of goods is removed,' says Mr Fung.
Without last year's march, governments on both sides of the border might have continued to monopolise the policy dialogue, following the awkward procedures adopted after 1997, with contacts between Hong Kong and the delta routed through Beijing.
Over the past few months, I have worked for Edgar Cheng Wai-kin, vice-chair of Hong Kong's Council for Sustainable Development. This has given me ample opportunity to witness how difficult it is for government, business and civil society to accept the implications of a multi-stakeholder approach to policy development. Each sector is reluctant to concede advantages to the other, and only gradually recognises the advantages and opportunities of working together.
Such projects teeter constantly on the edge of misunderstanding. They do not represent government by consensus or referendum, or even participatory democracy, but a necessary half-stage in Hong Kong's political evolution. They need strong government to work effectively.
Let's hope this year's march will keep up the momentum for positive change, however modest and incremental.
Edith Terry is a writer based in Hong Kong
