Legco shambles: blame Beijing, not just local lawmakers
It is shameful for some people to hold lawmakers as being solely responsible for the chaos we have been seeing in the Legislative Council chamber.
It is wrong to do this and not to blame Beijing for its “divide- and-rule” approach in order to see controversial rulings passed and over-budget projects get even more money.
I would say we now have three categories of legislators – pro-democrats, pro-government and pro-China.
This has led to some chaotic voting and ensuing confusion when the results are counted.
While Beijing might outwardly condemn the divide-and-rule strategy of the government during the colonial period in Hong Kong and other colonies, I believe it embraces it wholeheartedly. I think having this confusion and chaos in Legco and in Hong Kong works in its favour.
If we look at the track record of the previous and present administrations over funding for the high-speed rail link to the mainland, it is one of manipulation to approve the original large sum and the latest additional sum of HK$19.6 billion because the project has run over budget.
These decisions have been made against the will of the people. Right from the start, lawmakers expressed concerns about the cost and feared it could wipe out our budget surplus, even if it helped the mainland economy by creating jobs for citizens from north of the border.
The central government wants the rail link here to act as a showcase for the country’s high-speed train network, which it can then sell to the world. And it knows that because Hong Kong is a vibrant international financial centre and its people are very hard-working it can bounce back (from any budget losses) faster than the mainland.
Extra funds may also be required to finish the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge.
A. L. Nanik, Tsim Sha Tsui
