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Gary Cheung

What message has been reflected in the failure of political reform? 
It was a missed opportunity. I believed the city would become nearly ungovernable if universal suffrage could not be attained for 2017, and my fear came true on June 18 after the bungled walkout of the Legislative Council by pro-establishment lawmakers.
During the reform exercise, forces across the political divide failed to reach a consensus on how to elect the chief executive in 2017. It's really sad that the Hong Kong community failed to reconcile its differences on this crucial issue.
READ MORE: Hong Kong reform vote
I can't see sufficient momentum for relaunching the reform process in the next 10 years. The chief executives who will be returned in 2017 and 2022 will not have the incentive to do so as there is no realistic hope of forging a consensus and securing the passage of a reform package.
The chance of restarting the reform process in the next 10 years will be slim unless the pro-establishment camp can win a two-thirds majority in the legislature - which is required for amending the method of electing the chief executive - in next year's Legislative Council elections.
The rejection by the University of Hong Kong's governing council of former law faculty dean Professor Johannes Chan Man-mun's appointment to the post of pro-vice-chancellor will prompt many people to vote for candidates from the pan-democratic camp next year to ensure there will be a robust opposition to monitor the government.
READ MORE: University of Hong Kong deputy head controversy
Besides this, some recent incidents on the other side of the border, including the arrests of human rights lawyers working on the mainland, have adversely affected the perception of the mainland held by a substantial number of Hongkongers.

I don't expect major candidates contesting the 2017 chief executive election to put forward political reform as a key topic in their election platform as it is a political hot potato. There won't be a breakthrough on Hong Kong's political reform unless Beijing speeds up political reform and democratisation on the mainland in the next few years. But I can't envisage this possibility in the foreseeable future.
Do you agree with calls from some pan-democrats to amend the Basic Law?
It may be politically unwise for Hong Kong people to call for amending the Basic Law - we would end up getting ourselves in trouble. The procedures for amending the mini-constitution are complicated, and the central government might be happy to add some clauses stressing the "one country" principle to the Basic Law. It could open a Pandora's box.
How can Hong Kong depart from its political stalemate? Many livelihood issues have been stuck in Legco due to repeated filibusters. Can livelihood issues be separated from politics?
After the failed electoral reform effort, the most important issue now is how to resolve the problems with governance. Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said after Legco's rejection of the reform package in June that the government would focus on economic and livelihood issues and that electoral reform would not come up again during his current term of office.
But that line of thinking is incorrect. It's unrealistic to disregard political issues, as livelihood issues and politics are inseparable.

The Hong Kong government shouldn't put all the blame for problems with governance on opposition forces. The government must step up public engagement with various political parties, social groups and non-governmental organisations to resolve the issues facing Hong Kong.
With the emergence of non-governmental organisations, international organisations, civil society and student groups, the government shouldn't assume it can resolve all social issues on its own.
A growing number of young people in Hong Kong have negative perceptions of the mainland. Will this pose any problems for the implementation of the "one country, two systems" formula?
The peculiar features of governance in Hong Kong have their roots in the views of Hong Kong people about the mainland. Hongkongers would have a more positive perception of the mainland if authorities there stepped up anti-corruption campaigns and adopted a more lenient approach on human rights.
I'm disheartened to learn that a growing number of youngsters in Hong Kong are not interested in gaining a deeper understanding of the mainland. The Hong Kong government has been organising exchange tours for students to visit the mainland since the handover to deepen their understanding of the country. But most of the tours emphasise the achievements made by mainland authorities.
Such a one-dimensional approach may not work. We should let young people gain first-hand observations of the situation on the mainland, no matter they are positive or negative. For example, it would be good if Hong Kong students joined tours to rural areas to see for themselves improvements in living standards for the people living there.
On the other hand, we shouldn't be too harsh with our young generation or lash out at them for being radical and confrontational. To be fair, they are not particularly bad compared with those in other countries. The protest politics pursued by many youngsters in Hong Kong is also prevalent in many Western democracies.

Hong Kong think tank chief Andrew Fung no longer idealist but still aiming for impact
Andrew Fung Ho-keung knows full well how easily being critical of the establishment comes naturally to young people, as he too was once a student brimming with idealism while studying at the University of Hong Kong in the 1960s.
In 1968, he was editor-in-chief of HKU's student magazine Undergrad, published since 1952. Under Fung's leadership, the magazine earned a reputation for being critical of the government after publishing student leaders' views on the city's autonomy.
In 1968, then governor David Trench contributed a piece entitled The Basic Nature of Government - An Article for Undergrad to explain his governing philosophy.
"Undergrad is a paper which not only concerns itself with matters of direct student interest but, as I am glad to see, with public affairs also," Trench wrote.
He said his article was intended to "aid more constructive writing" and "help readers to evaluate what they read both here and, indeed, elsewhere".
"Trench sent us his article obviously in response to our criticism of the colonial government," Fung says. He believes the colonial administration was more sophisticated in handling dissenting voices.
Fung became an activist in social movements after graduating from the university in 1969. He took part in a campaign to defend the Diaoyu Islands in the early 1970s, including the protest outside the Japanese consulate on February 18, 1971. The campaign led to an upsurge in nationalism among Hongkongers.

In the 1980s, he joined a consultancy firm which specialised in offering training courses on the market economy and its management for mainland officials.
Fung says he was as disappointed as anybody fighting for democracy when the government's blueprint for electing the chief executive by universal suffrage in 2017 was rejected by the Legislative Council in June.
In the second half of 2013, Fung, the chief executive of the Hong Kong Policy Research Institute, joined with Legco president Jasper Tsang Yok-sing and former financial secretary Antony Leung Kam-chung in meeting with different groups to discuss the arrangements for electoral reform.
A few weeks before the National People's Congress Standing Committee laid down in August last year the restrictive framework for electing the city's leader in 2017, Fung spearheaded a joint petition calling for consensus on electoral reform.
Former HKU vice-chancellor Professor Tsui Lap-chee, Leung and Democratic Party founding member Dr Law Chi-kwong were among the stand-out names among 39 moderates from both sides of the political divide who signed the petition, which warned that "confrontational sentiments and behaviour have escalated to worrying levels".
Fung, 69, is joining hands with Tsang in setting up a think tank which will come up with a policy blueprint for the city next summer to be offered to candidates contesting the chief executive election in 2017.
"The government does not attach great importance to studies conducted by think tanks. We can't follow the traditional approach of relying on the government to grant contracts to conduct policy research," Fung says. "What we are planning is an advocacy think tank which aims to have an impact in society."


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Millennials should embrace Hong Kong as ‘a base to develop businesses in China and elsewhere,’ says Towngas  director

Effort needed to tackle labour shortage in artisanal, technical  and trades-related professions, says Towngas director

Moving Forward

Burying our heads in the sand on governance problems won't work, says Hong Kong Policy Research Institute chief

Photo: K. Y. Cheng

Fung was a student leader in his youth. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Detained human rights lawyer, Wang Yu, has been detained since July.

pro-Beijing lawmakers walk out from the Legco Chamber before reform package vote. Photo: SCMPOST

Students protested in the street against the Japanese claim for sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands on February 18, 1971. Photo: M. Chan

Hong Kong reform vote walkout ‘like a failed soccer offside trap’, says lawmaker amid demands for apology 

Some 31 pro-establishment lawmakers left the chamber before the vote. Photo: Felix Wong

Pro-establishment lawmakers including the Liberal Party's Vincent Fang Kang explain the fiasco on Thursday. Photo: May Tse

Detained human rights lawyer, Wang Yu, on Chinese state TV informed of 'failed attempt to smuggle son overseas'

Human rights lawyer Wang Yu was detained in July in a crackdown against civil rights activists.

Bao Longjun

University of Hong Kong’s council votes 12-8 to reject Johannes Chan’s appointment as pro-vice-chancellor

HKU vice-chancellor Professor Peter Mathieson (left) and HKU Council chairman Dr Leong Che-hung announce the decision. Photo: Felix Wong


Johannes Chan Man-mun

Johannes Chan (left), whose appointment vote is being led by Leong Che-hung. Photos: Dickson Lee, Felix Wong

Council chair Leong (left) receives a letter from the alumni concern group's leader Ip Kin-yuen at the university's campus in Pok Fu Lam today ahead of the vote. Photo: Felix Wong

Supporters of Voice of Loving HK oppose Chan's appointment and gathered today outside the university's campus in Pok Fu Lam. Photo: Felix Wong

Security was beefed up around the university ahead of tonight's vote. Photo: Felix Wong

News

Hong Kong

Politics

Chief executive of the Hong Kong Policy Research Institute ANDREW FUNG tells Gary Cheung how the city can look beyond this summer's failed electoral reform effort. Fung believes Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's focus on economic and livelihood issues in the remainder of his term is futile as 'livelihood issues and politics are inseparable'. He wants the government to step up engagement with social groups.


Burying our heads in the sand on governance problems won't work, says Hong Kong Policy Research Institute chief

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}READ MORE: Hong Kong reform vote

READ MORE: University of Hong Kong deputy head controversy

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