Opinion | Now more than ever, Hong Kong holds the key to China’s unification with Taiwan

Taiwanese regard the massive protests against the extradition bill as yet another sign ‘one country, two systems’ is failing. Hong Kong must show that democratic development is possible if Beijing wants Taiwan back in its fold

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Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, has said repeatedly the island would not accept the “one country, two systems” model proposed by China. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 9:30am, 1 Jul 2019Updated: 9:36am, 1 Jul 2019

When the whole world looks to be collapsing in chaos, it is sometimes tempting to just give up, roll oneself into a ball and hide underneath the covers until the storm has passed. Indeed, various parts of the Hong Kong administration seem to have adopted this strategy recently. But, for those of us committed to China and Hong Kong, giving up is not an option.

All the major players have made serious errors in handling Hong Kong affairs in recent years. Both the central government and the local administration have been far too conservative in their policies on political reform. As a result, there is now a complete disconnect between the younger generation and the existing political machinery.

When a major issue arises, the young take to the streets because they cannot see any alternative way to get their point across. The central government thus has complete control of the special administrative region’s political system, but it does not work. What it should be aiming for is adequate control over a system that does.

The local administration has been far too ready to undertake fake or skimpy public consultation exercises, and to fudge the findings. Five years ago, the conclusion on political reform was that a highly restrictive method of choosing the chief executive was fine. This time around, less than three weeks was allowed for the most important subject for a generation and the reported conclusion misread community reaction by a country mile.

One dramatic effect of the recent upheaval in Hong Kong has been the spillover into Taiwan politics. Just a few months ago, opinion polls on the island showed the incumbent leader, Tsai Ing-wen, would not be the strongest candidate for the Democratic Progressive Party in the next general election, set for January 2020.

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