How Andy Chan’s call for Hong Kong independence fails the test of common sense
Mike Rowse sat in on his FCC talk and came away puzzled as to why a champion of Hong Kong freedoms should suggest asking America to suspend the trade privileges the city enjoys under US law. And that’s just one of the illogical points of his speech
I attended the FCC event. As I have written in a previous column, I think independence for Hong Kong is impossible and would anyway be against our best interests. But I wanted to understand the logic of those with a contrary opinion.
Chan dismissed the Basic Law, in effect saying that it was not relevant to Hong Kong people like himself because they had played no part in its drafting or promulgation. In other words, his party would proceed as if the Basic Law did not exist. Apart from the sheer absurdity of the answer, it is also factually incorrect: there were Hong Kong members of the Basic Law Drafting Committee back in the 1980s (one of whom, at least for a while, was Martin Lee Chu-ming), and a majority of the members of the Basic Law Consultative Committee were also locals.
Watch: What is the Basic Law?
Whether the reply displayed ignorance of history or wilful disregard for the truth was not immediately apparent, but no matter. In addition to the non-answer, which was bad enough, Chan had appealed during his speech for the American government to suspend the trade privileges Hong Kong enjoys under the US-Hong Kong Policy Act.
Now just pause for a moment and see if you can find the logic in this proposal. On the one hand, his party says Hong Kong is different from the mainland, Beijing is encroaching on those things that make us different so – it is argued – we should become independent to protect those differences.
On the other hand, it suggests that the privileges be dropped and we be treated the same as the mainland. How can a party whose very name implies it puts Hong Kong first in all things make proposals to harm Hong Kong’s economy?
Watch: Andy Chan tells why he seeks Hong Kong independence
Leaving aside the “drama queen” aspect of a political non-entity addressing the head of government of the world’s most powerful country, and leaving aside the fact that membership of the WTO is not within the gift of the American leader, how could this possibly be in Hong Kong’s best interests?
The Hong Kong nation has not even been formed yet, but already we have our first dissident. Some might use a stronger word.
The main thrust of Chan’s speech was that Hong Kong had been colonised by the British and was now being colonised by China. The analysis is specious because Hong Kong was not independent before the British came, it was part of China. Now the British have left and our city has returned to Chinese custody. That is not colonisation, it is a return to the status quo, or, as some would say, redress of a historical wrong.
My personal impression was that most members of the FCC audience on the day, especially the more senior ones with greater knowledge of Hong Kong’s history, were not very impressed with Chan’s arguments or grasp of reality. Whether the club should have given him a platform to air his views is arguable.
After all, there is a difference between reporting the news and helping to create it. From one point of view, had the FCC not invited Chan to speak, it would not have been political censorship, just recognition that he fails the “common sense” smell test. But let’s just accept that there are different, legitimate, points of view.
Perhaps there is a third government connected with Hong Kong which also has cause to reflect.
Mike Rowse is the CEO of Treloar Enterprises. [email protected]