In turbulent times, will Hong Kong voters drift to the middle of the road?
Two new moderate political groups are offering something different to a divided city at the Legco polls in September
As the sun rises on a Friday in an old public housing estate on Hong Kong Island, Gary Wong Chi-him fixes banners imprinted with his face and gives out leaflets to commuters rushing for buses. Election day may be months away, but time could run out quicker than expected for the wannabe legislator.
“Voters don’t often understand what third-way politics stands for,” he said.
The observation of the political novice from Path of Democracy – one of two new groups active in promoting a third way for Hong Kong – is a reflection of how the city is traditionally divided into pro-democracy and pro-establishment politics.
In Hong Kong, third-way politics is unlike the similarly named political philosophy in Western democracies, which tends to denote a centrist approach reconciling long-standing right-wing and left-wing politics, like New Labour under Tony Blair in Britain.
They have an avant-garde action plan: to be seen as pan-democrats while at the same time maintaining a cosy relationship with Beijing.
In April, the group, led by former lawmaker Ronny Tong Ka-wah, went to Beijing and visited the deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macau Office of the State Council.