Hong Kong needs new form of capitalism

I do not understand the responses of John Shannon and another reader (March 28) to the opinion piece by Margaret Chu, senior research officer of the One Country Two Systems Research Institute ('A Chinese chief par excellence,' March 26).

Ms Chu's main point, that Tung Chee-hwa was an outstanding chief executive of Hong Kong, was completely overlooked by these two readers, who focused on the so-called racism of the article. Ms Chu used the phrase 'white man' only twice, and it was quite clearly intended for hyperbolic effect. It would be foolish to take this literally, that she meant it as a racist slur. Mr Shannon totally misrepresents Ms Chu's calm and rational assessment of Mr Tung and Chris Patten, with inflammatory words such as 'deify' and 'demonise' to describe her analysis of the two men respectively.

As a Chinese, I share with Ms Chu a distaste for 'adversarial showbiz politics' as practised by many western democracies, and join her in praising Mr Tung for his harmonious vision and style. It is in such a spirit that I disagree with Ms Chu on two points.

First, she refers to Hong Kong people as politically inexperienced. Although this might have been true in the past, today it is not the case. One sees in the South China Morning Post, how sophisticated the viewpoints of taxi drivers have become. And the high turnout in recent elections and marches demonstrates the social and political maturity of the people.

Second, Ms Chu rightly points out that 'economic historians will one day assess the structural damage and the income inequality that Patten left behind'. She refers to Mr Tung's leadership as 'democratic capitalism that is consistent with Chinese political culture'. While I feel that this is a good description of the current Hong Kong approach, it is clear that such capitalism can only further increase the income inequality inherited from the Patten era.

I hope Ms Chu will join me in seeking to establish an alternative system of government. For a model, we do not have to look far, since the mainland has been successfully practising socialism with Chinese characteristics for more than 25 years.

FREDERICK KWONG, Mei Foo