Never say never
A couple of months ago, most members of the Legislative Council accompanied Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen on a visit to Guangdong. Members of the pan-democratic camp, who had been barred from the mainland since 1989, were invited.
The lack of communication in the past between the democrats and mainland authorities was not simply because of differences of opinion on specific political issues. It reflected a basic gap between a broad part of the Hong Kong community and the mainland, going back decades. The trip to Guangdong by legislators of all views and attitudes was an important step in narrowing that gap.
The Pearl River Delta has changed enormously in the past 20 years, and a visit there today is a powerful reminder of the region's rapid progress. Cities like Shenzhen, Dongguan and Zhongshan started from a low level of development, so you would expect faster changes than we have in Hong Kong today. But even so, they are becoming impressive in many ways.
For example, my legislator colleagues and I visited a very modern car plant. After a guided tour, several in our party said Hong Kong should also have this sort of manufacturing, to provide jobs for our less-skilled workforce. I don't agree with this idea: big factories cannot be viable in Hong Kong these days without subsidies. Besides, it was a hi-tech factory, and the staff seemed well trained. I don't think such a place would provide many jobs for unskilled employees.
Although I wouldn't want to bring factories back to Hong Kong, I would certainly like to bring Dongguan's spacious and green downtown district to Central. Dongguan is a new city with lots of wide-open spaces; it has done a professional job of creating a pleasant environment - not just to visit, but perhaps to work in, live in and raise a family.
This set off alarm bells in my head. It is pointless for our city to try to compete with delta cities in areas where they have competitive advantages, such as in manufacturing. But what if those mainland cities start to match our strengths?
For years, we have congratulated ourselves on having a much better quality of life than cities on the mainland. We had less pollution, better infrastructure, and surely we had better public facilities. Today, I am not so sure. As for open spaces, our Lands Department stated a few weeks ago that allowing waterfront open space in Oil Street, in densely populated North Point, would be an 'underutilisation' of land. Revenue, the department said, came first.
We are still a long way ahead of the mainland in many ways. As our gross domestic product per capita shows, our economy is on a completely different level. Our service-based economy is far higher up the value chain, and our workforce is far more productive. Even if mainland cities improve their physical infrastructure, surely we will always be able to rely on our well-known advantages: our legal system, honest bureaucracy, personal freedoms, open financial system, public safety and so on. Or will we?
Such things help to make up the gap between Hong Kong and the mainland. But that gap is not guaranteed. Not long ago, it seemed impossible that the democrats and mainland officials would sit in a room and exchange views on the June 4 Tiananmen crackdown. Yet it happened.
Today, it seems impossible that Dongguan, despite its spacious green centre, will one day match our city as a place for professionals to live and do business. But what about tomorrow? The gap is closing.
Bernard Chan is a member of the Executive Council and a legislator representing the insurance functional constituency
