LettersIf Hong Kong and Taiwan want to resist the mainland, they should focus on economics, not politics

The Tsai Ing-wen government’s setbacks in Taiwan highlight the consequences of neglecting the economy in favour of independence politicking

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Protesters advocating Hong Kong independence shout during a demonstration on China’s National Day in Hong Kong on October 1. Pro-independence, anti-mainland China politics recently suffered a setback in Taiwan and have netted little progress in Hong Kong. Photo: Reuters

Published: 9:19am, 7 Dec 2018Updated: 9:19am, 7 Dec 2018

In 1982, Deng Xiaoping insisted on Hong Kong returning to Chinese sovereignty. Why were Hongkongers so afraid? At that time, there had been no democratic elections in Hong Kong. Although there was a high degree of freedom of speech, the British government was not known for its fairness and openness. The biggest problem was that Hong Kong’s economy was much richer than the Chinese mainland’s.

However, Deng famously promised Hongkongers that “horse racing will continue, dancing parties will go on”. This is reflected in Article 5 of the Basic Law: “The socialist system and policies shall not be practised in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and the previous capitalist system and way of life shall remain unchanged for 50 years”.

The Basic Law promised no change to Hong Kong’s capitalist system for the 50 years after the handover. Photo: Martin Chan

In my view, the original intent of “one country, two systems” lay in the fact that Hong Kong was much wealthier than the mainland, so it was necessary. Of course, Hong Kong enjoys more political openness and freedom of speech than the mainland, but economic factors are still a very important consideration. In fact, after China’s economy developed, many Hongkongers moved to Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and other places on the mainland, proving that we are economic animals. Wherever there are opportunities to make money, we follow.

In Taiwan, the former anti-communist camp has been partly bolstered by the economy and by the democratic political process. At present, Taiwan’s economy is no match for the mainland, but its democratic freedom far exceeds Hong Kong. Therefore, the anti-China ideology still has a market in Taiwan.

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} The Tsai Ing-wen government’s setbacks in Taiwan highlight the consequences of neglecting the economy in favour of independence politicking

The Tsai Ing-wen government’s setbacks in Taiwan highlight the consequences of neglecting the economy in favour of independence politicking