The recent controversy over the roles of Hong Kong deputies to the National People's Congress and delegates to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and whether an understanding had been reached for CPPCC deputies to play a greater part in local affairs, needs to be seen within the context of the post-1997 political order.
The 'one country, two systems' project was designed to build a fresh order that embodies a new hegemony of beliefs and ideology. This requires Hong Kong people to accept that the special administrative region is subordinate to Beijing and that a 'high degree of autonomy' does not mean full autonomy. These principles are repeated periodically to remind Hong Kong people that an executive-led (not legislative-led) system will have to be maintained in future political reform. Thus, the legislature will remain relatively weak.
Moreover, Hong Kong must consider Beijing's interests, views and concerns when it looks at options going forward. It is just as important to remember Beijing's concerns about national security, which are built around the need to prevent Hong Kong from being used as an anti-China base. Thus, Hong Kong must be governed by 'patriots' who share the values of the new political order, as they will be the best ones to defend its ideology.
In 2000, mainland scholar Cao Erbao provided an interesting perspective, in a party school publication, of two 'teams' working to implement 'one country, two systems'. The first is the local administration: the chief executive, political appointees, the civil service and judiciary, who are responsible for making real the promise of 'Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong'. The second team comprises central government officials and party cadres with responsibilities for Hong Kong affairs. Most people obviously focus on the former, but the latter is no less important because that team is seen by Beijing as a key force in the running of Hong Kong. The second team should not 'interfere' with the work of the first team, but it has wide-ranging responsibilities for Hong Kong affairs and works from the perspective of the mainland authorities.
Using Mr Cao's notion, it is easier to see where the Hong Kong deputies to the NPC and CPPCC fit in. It is primarily the mainland team's role to spread the beliefs and ideology of the new political order. While the Hong Kong team also works to instil patriotism through public-awareness-raising projects, its main role is to keep the local ship afloat in terms of day-to-day administration.
The new political order is much more than the administrative bodies of the Hong Kong government. It includes the wider network of people in public life as a whole. Thus, NPC and CPPCC members are appointees to important national bodies who support, and are part of, that new order. The second team can stay in touch with them regularly through the central government's liaison office in Hong Kong. The team includes members of the executive and legislative councils, and Hong Kong government appointees to various advisory committees. Some are owners of the city's major media companies, and some are leaders of community organisations.
