Hong Kong election reform: city is not beholden to the ways of broken Western democracies

Western criticism of the revamp should be dismissed as meaningless and empty. Worldwide electoral democracies are exhibiting serious flaws, and Hong Kong should not shudder at embracing new thinking

Regina Ip

Published: 3:30am, 4 Apr 2021

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On March 30, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee made wide-ranging changes to Annex 1 and Annex 2 to the Basic Law, which govern the methods for selecting the chief executive of Hong Kong and forming the legislature. The ostensible purposes are to ensure patriots rule Hong Kong and to perfect Hong Kong’s electoral system.

The decisions triggered a chorus of condemnations from a bloc of democratic countries. The United States, United Kingdom, the European Union and Japan denounced the changes as in breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, undermining the freedoms of the people of Hong Kong, further reducing political participation and representation in Hong Kong and defying the will of the people.

These complaints should be dismissed as empty words with no real meaning. Who are these foreign powers to judge what is best for the people of Hong Kong? How can any of them justifiably claim to represent the will of the people when opinion is so polarised in their own countries and seats often awarded on razor-thin margins?

The changes to Hong Kong’s electoral system will reduce the role played by mass elections in forming the Election Committee which selects the chief executive and the legislature. That is no bad thing for Hong Kong. Election is by no means the sole yardstick for measuring whether a political system serves the interests of the people.

Writing in 1991 on the crest of the “third wave” of democratisation, American political scientist Samuel Huntington wrote that “the definition of democracy in terms of elections is a minimal definition”. A system of government that permits widespread mass participation has no intrinsic value if it does not deliver good governance.

Alan Leong Kah-kit (left) and Jeremy Tam Man-ho of the Civic Party campaign on July 17, 2016 in the run-up to the Legislative Council elections that year. Elections will play a lesser role in Hong Kong politics under new rules mandated by the NPC. Photo: Dickson Lee

For a long time, Hong Kong was governed under a system which did not permit mass participation in forming its government or the legislature, but it worked well. That system, among other factors, enabled Hong Kong to become part of the “East Asian miracle”. Much can be said about a system underpinned by strong rule of law, albeit without mass elections, and aided by an independent judiciary and a capable and confident public service unencumbered by political feuding.

The rule of law guaranteed the protection of the fundamental rights and liberties of the people of Hong Kong. The city enjoyed many freedoms before it became semi-democratic. In contrast, many electoral democracies have failed to protect rights and freedoms. An electoral democracy is not foolproof.

The advent of direct democratic elections in 1991 has enhanced the accountability and transparency of the executive authorities. But these benefits have been far outweighed by the harm democratisation has done to the overall stability and prosperity of Hong Kong.

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It would be unfair to lay all the blame for Hong Kong’s downward spiral on the expansion of the electoral element. Hong Kong’s declining economic competitiveness, sky-high home prices and rising inequality have contributed to a groundswell of discontent and anger at the government. But the reality is that our electoral system has increasingly returned populist representatives in the “pan-democratic” camp who are opposed to China.

The events of 2019 showed how a civil protest against an unpopular piece of legislation could turn into a dangerous movement that the government cannot not possibly tolerate, given the supreme importance of national unity and stability.

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If Hong Kong is turned into a battleground for forces bent on destabilising China, Beijing has no option but to bring “one country, two systems” to an end. That would immediately cause millions living in Hong Kong to lose the extensive rights and liberties they currently enjoy and deal a body blow to Hong Kong’s prosperity.

The electoral reform launched by Beijing expands the Election Committee to 1,500 members and the Legislative Council to 90 members. It also strengthens the participation of those with strong stakes in the well-being of China, such as representatives of state-owned enterprises in Hong Kong, countrymen’s associations and associations representing Hong Kong citizens based in mainland China. These are forces of stability which will ensure the ultra-important chief executive election does not go wrong.

Another welcome change permits top professionals who lack campaign skills and for whom the opportunity cost of participating in lawmaking is too high to participate in elections. In many sub-sectors for professionals, seats have been reserved for members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Engineering and other prestigious bodies.

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That means distinguished home-grown scientists and academics who are members of these academies can play a more direct role in propelling Hong Kong’s technological development. Seats have also been reserved for grass-roots organisations – with details to be spelt out in local legislation – and members of Area Committees, District Fight Crime Committees and District Fire Prevention Committees, who are locals conversant with district needs and problems.

Let those who mock these grass-roots representatives for lack of an electoral mandate be reminded that this is how popular participation in governance started in the British era. Appointees served with competence and probity, unburdened by the need to sacrifice long-term interest for short-term electoral gain.

These are early days, and the benefits and any potential problems of the revised system will be teased out in time. But electoral reform should not be frowned on just because the political interests of certain existing stakeholders are undermined.

There are some people in the West who are calling for fewer elections, longer tenures, replacement of the plurality voting system and even political competence tests for voters. Worldwide electoral democracies are exhibiting serious flaws, and Hong Kong should not shudder at new thinking.

Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee is a lawmaker and chairwoman of the New People’s Party

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