Jiang Zemin’s journey from transitional figure to transformational leader a fitting legacy for Hong Kong

Initially considered a compromise candidate, the late president led Hong Kong and China into a new era
Now, as our city begins another chapter, we could use more of Jiang’s underdog spirit

Alice Wu

Published: 6:45am, 5 Dec 2022

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The passing of former president Jiang Zemin marks the end of an era for China. He will be remembered as the transformative leader who brought China onto the highway of incredible growth, building on what paramount leader Deng Xiaoping had begun by opening up the country through bold market-economy reforms and leading China’s accession to the World Trade Organization.

Deng brought China out of isolation; Jiang brought the nation fully into the world.

Deng was the father of “one country, two systems”, the policy that ensured the smooth handover of Hong Kong and Macau back to the motherland and is seen as the eventual solution to the Taiwan issue.

Jiang oversaw the handovers of both special administrative regions. He was instrumental in implementing one country, two systems. If Deng wrote the prologue to the Hong Kong SAR story, Jiang opened the first chapter.

At the time, Jiang set just the right tone for one country, two systems in Hong Kong, under the gaze of a largely sceptical world. It was, of course, not without its challenges.

If the move by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu to ask Beijing to seek an interpretation of the national security law over whether overseas counsel can take part in national security cases is controversial today, consider that the first instance of a reinterpretation of the Basic Law occurred under Jiang’s watch.

Jiang was instrumental in instilling confidence in one country, two systems by taking what we can now clearly see to have been a hands-off approach when it came to Hong Kong affairs. The metaphor “well water does not mix with river water” Jiang so famously quoted in 1989 turned out to be the guide to what the policy would mean on the ground.

China’s then-president Jiang Zemin (centre left) shakes hands with Britain’s then Prince Charles during a ceremony in Hong Kong marking the return of the city to Chinese rule on July 1, 1997. Photo: AFP

On the eve of the handover, Jiang reinforced his commitment to non-interference in a speech stressing that the central government “will not and should not be allowed to intervene in matters that ought to be handled by the Hong Kong SAR”. It was the tune Jiang stuck to and it encapsulated the careful dynamics and calibration that the one country, two systems policy requires.

For Hong Kong residents of my generation, Jiang’s most memorable moment would perhaps be his rare show of anger; in 2000, he made an unexpected outburst towards a group of local reporters when he met Hong Kong’s first chief executive Tung Chee-hwa in Zhongnanhai.

After Jiang was asked whether he had endorsed Tung for a second term, way ahead of the end of Tung’s first, he went off-script and approached the reporters, berating them for their lack of depth, breadth and skills, with the famous line, “too simple, sometimes naive”.

For someone who was at first widely regarded as a transitional leader, there to hold the place of power until the heir-apparent (Hu Jintao) was selected, Jiang proved himself to be an outstanding leader with outsized influence. Underestimated from the beginning and considered to be a compromise candidate after unexpectedly coming to power following the Tiananmen protests in 1989, Jiang proved the world wrong.

06:51

‘I’ve not really done anything special’: when Jiang Zemin reflected on his time as China’s leader

As we remember Jiang’s leadership, we see how far the nation has come since the late 1990s. And we must recognise that Hong Kong has indeed moved on to a new chapter. Times have changed, and the well water, now largely accepted by our nation’s leaders to be polluted by foreign interference, is being cleaned up.

We have repeatedly heard how Hong Kong is under threat from external forces, caught between Beijing and a world that has grown increasingly hostile to it. Indeed, it means that not only reporters, but also Hong Kong residents, can no longer be too simple or naive in the way we see ourselves, or our place in the nation and our role in its development.

But perhaps the most important legacy Jiang leaves Hong Kong is his journey from a transitional to transformational leader. Hong Kong, too, is in constant transition and the past few years have cast a shadow over this “shining pearl”. Being an underdog worked in Jiang’s favour; may it similarly be the motor that propels this city forward.

Alice Wu is a political consultant and a former associate director of the Asia Pacific Media Network at UCLA

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