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Letters | Why Hong Kong can’t have democracy without security law under Article 23
- The absence of an anti-sedition law is the main reason Beijing has been reluctant to allow Hong Kong to freely elect its chief executive
- Both Hong Kong and the mainland authorities should trust the city’s legal system to prevent abuses under Article 23 as well as any subversive activities
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Why you can trust SCMP
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To have long lasting peace, the Hong Kong government should examine the reasons behind the protest movement. Our political system has lost popular support due to its inability or unwillingness to address basic livelihood issues in Hong Kong – widening social inequality, unaffordable housing, diminishing economic opportunities for the young.
This is why people have demanded a legislature and a government that is more representative of the general population, and not just the elite.
While the governments of many democratic countries are equally if not more corrupt than Hong Kong’s – given our strong independent legal system, we stand a better-than-even chance of creating a clean, representative, democratic system.
Our government needs to have legitimacy. In a democracy, the people’s vote confers this legitimacy. In an autocratic system, the government controls the flow of information, and can use nationalism and other means to maintain order.
Even then, the mainland Chinese government is very sensitive to the needs of its people and is highly responsive to criticism.
Its recent track record in tackling issues such as poverty, environmental degradation, renewable energy, universal health care access and education puts many democratic and far wealthier countries to shame, including those criticising China the loudest.
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