Source:
https://scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1329431/beijing-must-come-trust-patriots-hong-kong
Comment/ Opinion

Beijing must come to trust the patriots in Hong Kong

C.K. Yeung says Beijing has nothing to fear from an outspoken Hong Kong, for love of China has a claim on its people as strong as their faith in democracy and freedom of speech

Hong Kong has always been a force of progress for China

Trust between leaders and the led is what glues them together, enabling effective governance. But, in the case of Hong Kong, this glue is no stronger than sticky rice. Beijing sees Hong Kong through the lens of Chinese history and the Communist Party's 64 years of experience in power. This prism gives Beijing a distorted picture of Hong Kong, feeding its misguided policy responses to what Hong Kong people hold as a mild demand for true universal suffrage.

To the 1.3 billion people in mainland China, 4,000 years of history has taught them two important lessons. The first is about the 200 years of national humiliation and suffering at the hands of foreign aggressors. The second concerns the last 30 years of national pride and prosperity under communist leadership.

The terrible past and terrific present explain Chinese people's high degree of trust in the central government despite the rampant corruption, undemocratic systems and human rights abuses - all regarded elsewhere as destructive of trust in government. In Beijing's experience, these so-called universal values are deemed unnecessary for political trust and are not needed for legitimacy.

Leung needs to be seen as Hong Kong’s advocate in Beijing, not Beijing’s spokesman here

In Hong Kong, people read a different history and embrace a different set of values. They fight for higher and broader democratic ideals than Beijing is comfortable with. Seen through distrustful eyes, they are anti-China. Seen through trusting eyes, they are truer patriots than the establishment camp, with Hong Kong's and China's long-term interest at heart.

Our people, our different values, our splendid system plus the support of our motherland have hoisted Hong Kong from a small fishing village to a world city. As long as these endure, what danger could there possibly be in letting our own patriots contest the top job here even if they love democracy and demonstrations, just as the founding fathers of modern China did? Beijing need not be spooked by the theatrics of the likes of "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung or the strident rhetoric of the pan-democrats.

In the final analysis, no one can lead Hong Kong without Beijing's help. From the water we drink to the People's Liberation Army garrisons in our midst, our sovereign holds the trump card.

Trust in the people means discarding the them-and-us mindset that poisons relations and dropping the government-knows-best attitude that impairs our leaders' vision, making them blind to the collective wisdom of the people.

If anyone in Hong Kong can bend Beijing's ear to give us the trust we deserve and a true vote that we aspire to, it is Leung Chun-ying. "Domestic diplomacy" has been on Leung's lips whenever he goes north to promote Hong Kong's interests. But domestic diplomacy means more than signing Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement deals. It means fierce soft-pedalling in Beijing to fight for true universal suffrage in Hong Kong.

To regain public trust, Leung needs to be seen as Hong Kong's political reform advocate in Beijing, not Beijing's spokesman in Hong Kong.

No one is saying that his task will be easy. But let us not forget that only a year and a half ago, he set forth almost as a mere also-ran in the chief executive election and ended up winning a 58 per cent approval rating and earning Beijing's trust to land him the top job.

Troubled times demand courageous leadership. If Leung can again pull off a political feat on universal suffrage, he will win back not only trust in him and in our system, but also usher Hong Kong into a new era of trust and solidarity between Beijing, Hong Kong and the people. Failing that, he is likely to be a one-term leader.

If we keep going the way we have been, Leung personally and Hong Kong as a whole will be heading towards a political disaster. With a chief executive without popular mandate and a defiant electorate without trust, Hong Kong may prove ungovernable.

Hong Kong has always been a force of progress for China, from Dr Sun Yat-sen who famously proclaimed 90 years ago in Hong Kong that his revolutionary ideas came from here, to the numberless and nameless activists who hit the streets on behalf of the powerless and voiceless in Hong Kong and on the mainland. But all they do is protest peacefully. They are neither jasmine revolutionists nor bauhinia insurgents.

In the larger scheme of things, our street campaigns are a mature, self-correction mechanism working to the system's advantage, righting government wrongs and venting public wrath. They are a necessary safety valve. Our controlled disharmony is a pillar, not a fifth column, to national stability and security.

Trust is mutual. When you recognise the wisdom of Hong Kong people with the goodwill of trust, they will use it judiciously, serving the best interests of our country and our city. After all, we are a proud son to our mother country, prodigal though we may be at times.

C.K. Yeung teaches in the School of Journalism and Communication at the Chinese University of Hong Kong