My Take | Beijing has enhanced Hong Kong’s pillars of success
- China has its own version of good governance and understanding of civil society, law and order and financial system. They may differ from those of Western democracy, but dismiss them out of hand at your peril
Foreign criticism of the fundamental overhaul, usually labelled as a political crackdown, has focused on three areas, each of them alone, but especially together, will herald the decline and demise of Hong Kong as we know it, or so some critics claim.
In each case, the Chinese communist state follows its own principles of sound governance; it took a big risk and, so far as current evidence shows, has prevailed in all three areas.
The rule of law
Meanwhile, the British Supreme Court has issued a statement saying UK judges will be staying on the city’s Court of Final Appeal and that “the judiciary in Hong Kong continues to act largely independently of government and their decisions continue to be consistent with the rule of law”.
This follows the decision of Robert Reed and his deputy, Patrick Hodge, to continue as non-permanent judges at Hong Kong’s top court. In doing so, they have given a much-needed vote of confidence in the independence of the local judiciary.