Hong Kong must achieve democracy one step at a time
Regina Ip calls on student protest leaders to take up the government's offer of some room to improve the electoral system, within the limits set by the NPC, or the stalemate will persist
As expected, the first ever dialogue between the government and students on Tuesday failed to deliver any dramatic breakthrough. Despite the students' accusation of a lack of concrete concessions, in the summing-up by Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, the government actually offered more specific deliverables than had been anticipated prior to the meeting.
The first concession was the submission of a report to the State Council's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office on developments in public opinion since the National People's Congress Standing Committee decision on August 31. The proposal was decried as futile, as it would not guarantee an overturn of the Standing Committee's decision. But it was put forward in response to students' demand for a "supplementary report" to the central authorities.
Some recent polls show that most people either oppose Occupy Central or doubt it could induce Beijing to change its position. The students' reaction underscores their unrealistic and intransigent attitude. To break the logjam, they need to leave their interlocutors some room for manoeuvre, or a compromise solution to the stalemate will not be found.
The government's offer of a multi-party platform for ongoing dialogue was also flatly rejected. Federation of Students leader Alex Chow saw no need for further dialogue, while 17-year-old representative of Scholarism, Joshua Wong, instead sought a face-to-face meeting with a high-level Chinese leader responsible for Hong Kong affairs.
When secondary students started their sit-in outside Civic Square on September 26, they chanted slogans urging a dialogue with Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, similar to students' demands at Tiananmen Square in 1989. The students and other prime organisers of the Occupy campaign are well advised to grab this opportunity.
Once the talks get under way, it is likely that the parties would be free to talk about anything impinging on Hong Kong's democratic development, before or after 2017.
The government made two other substantive points. It expressly indicated there would be room for discussion of the nomination and voting procedures within the framework of the Standing Committee's decision. It also indicated that the 2017 package would not be "cast in concrete". There would be room for further development beyond 2017.