https://www.scmp.com/rss/296688/feed Anson Chan served as chief secretary of the Hong Kong government both before and after the handover, before retiring in 2001. As chief secretary, she headed the 190,000-strong civil service. She was the first woman and the first Chinese to hold the second-highest governmental position in Hong Kong. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com In the street a few days ago, a young woman approached me with a simple question, “Mrs Chan, what can be done?” How I wish I had an answer or, rather, how I wish I had an answer that our Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and her team of advisers would act on. The Hong Kong government is effectively dead in the water, unable to either do what must be done to defuse the crisis, or convince its masters in Beijing that clamping down harder on the protests is not a solution. After more than... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3038425/one-voice-hong-kong-demands-independent-inquiry-unrest-why-wont?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3038425/one-voice-hong-kong-demands-independent-inquiry-unrest-why-wont?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Nov 2019 04:00:14 +0000 The 20th anniversary of the return of Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty has prompted a flurry of reflection and commentary, in both local media and, significantly, in the overseas press. Back in 1997, if one was betting on the success of “one country, two systems”, the stakes would have been high. The concept, hailed as the brainchild of late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平), is certainly one of the most imaginative constitutional balancing acts ever devised: an inspired solution to what... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2099951/hong-kongs-handover-anniversary-opportunity-restore-faith?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2099951/hong-kongs-handover-anniversary-opportunity-restore-faith?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Jun 2017 08:36:34 +0000 As Hong Kong voters prepare to go to the polls, the stakes have arguably never been higher. In the four years since the last Legislative Council election, our way of life, supposedly protected under the mantra of “one country, two systems”, has faced unprecedented challenges in the form of a systematic undermining of our core values and freedoms. I used to believe in the maxim that people get the government they deserve, but no longer I used to believe in the maxim that people get the government... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2011579/hong-kong-people-need-vote-change-they-deserve?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2011579/hong-kong-people-need-vote-change-they-deserve?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 31 Aug 2016 09:06:33 +0000 It was bound to happen. The current torrent of righteous indignation that has been unleashed in response to the gate-crashing by student representatives and others of last week's meeting of the University of Hong Kong's council is clearly intended to divert attention from the much more serious issue of who and what are to blame for the crisis engulfing the university. I do not condone the actions of the students and fear that the rowdy incident has played into the hands of those who are bent on... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1847100/attempt-subvert-academic-freedom-hong-kong-far-worse?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1847100/attempt-subvert-academic-freedom-hong-kong-far-worse?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Aug 2015 08:55:42 +0000 On top of his knee-jerk dismissal of a proposal to put the government's final constitutional reform package to the test of public opinion, Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung has added insult to injury by characterising pan-democrat legislators' vow to veto the government's political reform proposals as a "negative political gesture". This is rich coming from a member of the Task Force on Constitutional Development that has consistently poured cold water - either directly or via various... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1740949/failure-reform-hong-kongs-political-system-will-hurt-its?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1740949/failure-reform-hong-kongs-political-system-will-hurt-its?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Mar 2015 08:05:30 +0000 The campuses of Hong Kong's universities are peppered with faculty buildings that bear the names of their generous sponsors, mostly prosperous business tycoons and their heirs and successors. It is sobering to reflect - in the wake of the extraordinary events of the past few weeks - that while huge donations can pay for the bricks and mortar of these splendid edifices, they cannot buy the hearts and minds of the students they were designed to serve. The street protests of the "umbrella movement"... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1628273/hong-kong-needs-its-leaders-lead-once-or-protests-will?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1628273/hong-kong-needs-its-leaders-lead-once-or-protests-will?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Oct 2014 09:45:00 +0000 As Occupy Central's civil referendum draws to a close, we can afford to pause and reflect on the old maxim that a week is a long time in politics. When the poll opened, on June 20, the organisers were bracing themselves for a "damp squib" - a turnout possibly so low as to call into question the whole purpose of the exercise. The reasons for gloom were clear. Successive opinion polls showed the majority of those canvassed do not support Occupy Central. A further body of opinion felt cheated... https://www.scmp.com/comment/article/1541021/turnout-occupy-central-vote-stirring-show-hong-kong-defiance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/article/1541021/turnout-occupy-central-vote-stirring-show-hong-kong-defiance?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Jun 2014 09:30:45 +0000 When Martin Lee and I decided to undertake our recent trip to the United States and Canada in response to invitations from the Asia Society and the Asia Pacific Foundation, we knew to expect a barrage of criticism from the central government authorities and pro-Beijing forces in Hong Kong. It is nevertheless dispiriting that, yet again, Chinese state media are focused more on shooting the messengers than listening to the message. Standing up for the promises in the Sino-British Joint Declaration... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1495714/world-watching-outcome-hong-kongs-democracy-fight?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1495714/world-watching-outcome-hong-kongs-democracy-fight?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 24 Apr 2014 04:00:00 +0000 The government has finally published its long-awaited consultation document on methods for selecting the chief executive in 2017 and for forming the Legislative Council in 2016. While Hong Kong 2020 had no great expectations, given that the public had already been advised it would contain no specific proposals, we did not expect it to be quite so lacklustre. The document is repetitive, full of clichés and, despite the government's commitment to pave the way for an open discussion of options,... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1383889/hong-kong-people-must-not-settle-anything-less-universal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1383889/hong-kong-people-must-not-settle-anything-less-universal?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Dec 2013 03:30:45 +0000 The torrent of criticism unleashed upon Professor Benny Tai Yiu-ting's initiative to "Let Love and Peace Occupy Central" is truly astonishing. Leading the charge are the China Daily and local pro-Beijing newspapers which have been publishing an unrelenting stream of articles and opinion pieces, accusing those who support the movement of being determined to break the law just for the sake of it. Then there is the carefully orchestrated campaign by some chambers of commerce and other bastions of... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1270427/hong-kong-mood-democracy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1270427/hong-kong-mood-democracy?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Jun 2013 16:00:00 +0000 On April 24, I announced the launch of Hong Kong 2020 to provide a platform for seeking views on how, as a community, we can work towards a consensus on the constitutional changes necessary to achieve full universal suffrage for election of the chief executive in 2017 and all members of the Legislative Council by 2020. Members of Hong Kong 2020 have a long track record of promoting the cause of more democratic government in Hong Kong. In the coming months, we will build on this to reach out to... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1232674/key-step-universal-suffrage?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1232674/key-step-universal-suffrage?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 May 2013 19:06:32 +0000 China continues to astonish the world by the speed and scale of its economic growth. In less than four decades, it has emerged not just as the factory of the world, but as an economic giant that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development predicts will overtake the US as the world's largest economy by 2016. One thing is clear: the world's two superpowers need each other. They can and should build on their growing inter-relationship to promote global peace and stability and improve... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1155556/chinas-claim-greatness-must-rest-its-ethics?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1155556/chinas-claim-greatness-must-rest-its-ethics?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Feb 2013 16:00:00 +0000 Over the last few years, I have spoken and written extensively on what I believe to be the qualities essential to good governance. If I were to try and sum up all of these qualities into one of overriding importance, it would be trust; once a government has lost the trust of its people, it becomes well-nigh impossible to govern effectively, no matter how worthy the policy intent. Sadly, I believe that the current administration has, in fundamental ways, lost the trust of Hong Kong people. Why... https://www.scmp.com/article/971576/rebuilding-trust?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/971576/rebuilding-trust?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Jun 2011 16:00:00 +0000