Letters | Hong Kong leaders can no longer ignore the elephant in the room: the people are angry

Although the government has its hands full dealing with various pressing challenges at the moment, it must not delude itself that last year’s fury has dissipated

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Protesters hold up their hands to signify their demands at a demonstration in Causeway Bay on July 1, when the new national security law came into force in Hong Kong. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 6:30am, 25 Oct 2020Updated: 6:30am, 25 Oct 2020

Let us dial back to around one year ago, when the streets were filled with fire and the tear gas, the slogan “five demands, not one less” was repeatedly screamed by the protesters, and an atmosphere of panic permeated the whole polarised city. Until the pandemic hit, I couldn’t see any signs of the movement easing any time soon.

Now, the Hong Kong government has its hands full tackling the economic crisis, pandemic prevention work, and maintaining the city’s reputation as an international financial centre. However, the fact that public dissatisfaction with and anger towards the government has not dissipated is the elephant in the room.

Even if the government successfully handles the aforementioned issues to everyone’s satisfaction, I don’t think the relationship between the government and the people can be repaired, trust in the government and its machinery restored, and broken hearts consoled.

In light of the above, and given how polarised opinion is in Hong Kong, it is naive to expect rational discussion or negotiation. The leadership of Hong Kong and even that of China should consider a comprehensive plan in good faith to repair the relationship between the government and the people. In particular, the political root cause of the civil unrest and social dissatisfaction should be addressed politically.

Given the implementation of the national security law in Hong Kong, it is the right time for Beijing to take this sort approach by, for example, reintroducing political reform. Since the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong to China, it is obvious that the “one country, two systems” system as laid out in the Basic Law has not been functioning as well as originally expected.

.css-sioo19{color:#c79a00;}Letters | Hong Kong leaders can no longer ignore the elephant in the room: the people are angry

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Although the government has its hands full dealing with various pressing challenges at the moment, it must not delude itself that last year’s fury has dissipated

Letters | Hong Kong leaders can no longer ignore the elephant in the room: the people are angry

Although the government has its hands full dealing with various pressing challenges at the moment, it must not delude itself that last year’s fury has dissipated