Let’s look at the facts. Hong Kong showed during last year’s district council elections that belief in “one country, two systems” was declining, when pro-democracy candidates won a landslide victory. The central government’s representatives in Hong Kong at the time totally misread public sentiment, resulting in a shake-up . Do not forget that our own government totally failed to represent us and let Beijing take the lead. We now have three mainland agencies operating in Hong Kong. In less than a year, we have got the national security law and an overhaul of the electoral system; we had the national anthem law earlier and and pretty soon we can expect an overhaul of our educational system. Hong Kong’s DNA is being totally denied, most of all because our so-called representatives in the National People’s Congress and other Beijing bodies are not representing us. The same goes for Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang . Denying and even repressing the DNA of a place will not help Beijing. The DNA Beijing wants to inject can only be absorbed on a voluntary basis. And for that to happen, transparency, opening up and showing sincerity are basic elements. None of the above has been shown. Winning hearts has nothing to do with rhetoric. It has everything to do with action. Beijing’s actions have been the opposite of earning trust. Beijing didn’t show transparency. It repressed international media and its own citizens’ access to global information. If China really wants to be an international player, it should start playing the game. First of all, get rid of the slogan, “Don’t interfere in our internal affairs.” Because, in fact, they are not just internal problems. Peter den Hartog, Tuen Mun
