How the tale of two Hong Kongs can take a more positive turn

The city is now divided into those who support the political changes in the aftermath of the protests and those who mourn the loss of the Hong Kong they once knew
However, it is in everyone’s interests to keep ‘two systems’ alive and maintain Hong Kong as a site of progressive experimentation

Brian Y. S. Wong

Published: 6:45am, 15 Oct 2021

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There are two Hong Kongs in this city we call home. The first is one that – in the aftermath of the protests of 2019 – is jubilant at the ostensible restoration of law and order. Those in this camp believe the city is back on track and ready to tackle long-standing socioeconomic woes.

This camp argues that, with elections now largely devoid of the anti-Beijing, vocal opposition, it’s time Hong Kong shifted towards a consensus-driven form of government – one without money-backed politics, populist pandering and incessant bickering in the legislature.

There are many in this camp who genuinely believe the city is better off under the radical electoral reforms. Most are neither paid fronts nor are they acting out of ulterior motives.

If the chief executive’s recent policy address and liaison office officials’ visits to various groups, including residents of “cage homes”, are signs of reforms to come, that’s good news, especially for the more than 1 million people below the poverty line and the hundreds of thousands living in subdivided flats. Redistributive and pro-mobility reforms are long overdue.

Yet it remains open to question to what extent the transformation of Hong Kong’s political institutions will succeed without disillusioned members and groups within civil society on side.

The second Hong Kong, meanwhile, comprises those who lament the changes to the city in recent months. They feel the Hong Kong they knew – with a vibrant, at times raucous civil society, where free speech was a given and performative dissent part and parcel of daily politics – is no more. Many in this camp harbour deep animosity towards the establishment and, by extension, Beijing.

Indeed, some are of the opinion that, given the increasingly stringent barriers to political participation and the dissolution of many civil society organisations, the city lacks channels for substantive accountability.

The once up-for-grabs space for political activism has been replaced with one that is prudently curated and perhaps less reflective of the range of the views and interests of the masses. Some even argue that political participation is now pointless.

The second Hong Kong could well be partially correct – at least, in its concern over the extent to which governance can remain transparent, accountable and responsive to the public.

With most of the pro-democracy camp out of the way, the members of the establishment have turned to one-upping each another in demonstrating their loyalty to Beijing, even though it would serve both Beijing and Hong Kong’s interests if more time were spent on healing the divide, ensuring reasonable access to dignified housing for all, improving the city’s economic competitiveness and preserving local culture.

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The danger lies in the fact that neither of these Hong Kongs can credibly claim to represent the city’s genuine interests, notwithstanding the ubiquitous references to “the silent majority”.

Both camps view each other as mortal enemies – the first Hong Kong sees the second as supportive of foreign interference, instigation and political suicide; the second Hong Kong characterises the first as lapdogs and sycophants. The narrative on both sides has some truth, and both sets of rhetoric play well in the media, but do little to solve the city’s many problems.

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We do owe something to those who feel they are left with no choice but to leave, or who have to stay but have turned to antipathy and apathy.

We owe it to them to make things work for all, not just for members of the “blue” or “yellow” camps, not just for the rich and powerful, but also for the marginalised – the single mother raising her daughter in a cage home, the members of ethnic minority communities who are told they do not belong to this city, and the youth who feel the government is not listening to them.

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It will not be easy to bridge the two Hong Kongs, but we need to start somewhere and go beyond feel-good propaganda. We owe it to those who can neither afford to nor wish to leave.

I respectfully disagree with those who call it quits. Hong Kong still needs people to govern it and provide services that benefit all – as opposed to the few, or just members of one camp.

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While it may be true that Hong Kong is not a Western-style electoral democracy, the fact the current rules may not conform to our expectations and inherent values does not negate the need for pragmatic politics that nevertheless delivers for the public.

There is no simple path forward for politics here. However, Hong Kong would be worthless to the rest of China if it were 100 per cent assimilated, in political, economic, and legal terms, into the mainland.

Such assimilation would not even be in the interests of Beijing, which benefits from Hong Kong remaining a beacon of economic liberalism, the rule of law and talent, and a gateway for many to the Chinese market.

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Much of Beijing’s confidence in these attributes was understandably dampened by the violence, extremism and civil unrest of 2019. The solution for us all, then – civil society and politicians alike – is certainly not to play into the hands of the hawks who wish to see Hong Kong transformed into “one country, one system”.

It is instead to prove that keeping “two systems” alive, maintaining Hong Kong as a site of progressive experimentation, as a sandbox for institutional reforms and liberalisation, is very much in the interests of Beijing, the nation and the 7.4 million people who have made this city their home.

Brian Y.S. Wong is a DPhil in Politics candidate at Balliol College, Oxford, a Rhodes Scholar (Hong Kong 2020) and the founding editor-in-chief of the Oxford Political Review