https://www.scmp.com/rss/324117/feed Tian Feilong is an associate professor at Beihang University’s Law School in Beijing, and the executive director of the law school's One Country Two Systems Legal Studies Centre. He is also a director of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, and the author of a Chinese-language book on Hong Kong political reform. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Ever since Hong Kong’s anti-extradition bill protest broke out in June and then escalated to regular demonstrations, I would say most ordinary mainland Chinese look at the whole situation with disgust. For one, they despise the protestors for seeking help from foreign countries, thereby turning a domestic issue into an international debate.  In May, a group of Hong Kong democracy advocates went to the United States, appealing to the Congressional-Executive Commission on China to take immediate... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/intensifying-protests-hong-kong-imperil-rule-law/article/3021994?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/intensifying-protests-hong-kong-imperil-rule-law/article/3021994?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Aug 2019 09:31:26 +0000 On January 2, in a speech commemorating the 40th anniversary of the pro-unification “message to compatriots in Taiwan”, Chinese President Xi Jinping affirmed the 1992 consensus and proposed launching a cross-strait consultation on using the “one country, two systems” framework for unification. The move sent shock waves through Taiwan. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party has rejected the 1992 consensus and “one country, two systems” wholesale. The opposition Kuomintang has reiterated the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2181316/taiwans-tsai-ing-wen-has-torn-1992-one-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2181316/taiwans-tsai-ing-wen-has-torn-1992-one-china?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Jan 2019 17:00:00 +0000 China and the US are locked together in a trade war, which is a dispute over interests, technology and institutional values. The trade war is also a major event with regard to the modernisation of the East and West and the history of competition between them. When the US trade delegation came to China in May this year with a list of demands, it felt like the Treaty of Wanghia all over again, touching off the Chinese people’s sense of historic suffering and fighting spirit. China signed the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2165675/rise-above-trumps-trade-war-china-should-let?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2165675/rise-above-trumps-trade-war-china-should-let?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Sep 2018 00:00:45 +0000 Taiwan received a special “gift” on Labour Day this year – the severance of its diplomatic relationship with the Dominican Republic. This was a blow to the Democratic Progressive Party-led government.  It would be no exaggeration to say that the island faces severe challenges both at home and abroad. Just days earlier, anger over a proposal for pension reform for military veterans led protesters to storm the parliamentary building, recalling the Sunflower Movement of 2014, in which students... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2145128/how-china-us-rivalry-hastening-marginalisation-taiwan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2145128/how-china-us-rivalry-hastening-marginalisation-taiwan?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 08 May 2018 07:00:45 +0000 A trade war between the United States and China is brewing, and any outbreak will have a major impact on the global political and economic order.  This is not the first time the US has had to face down challenges from the so-called “second world” economies. Some 30 years ago, it used similar tactics against the Soviet Union, and also Japan, with some success. But if the US is expecting a similar result with its salvo against China, it is likely to be disappointed.  The backdrop to the trade row... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2141569/us-china-trade-war-offers-beijing-historic-opportunity-forge?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2141569/us-china-trade-war-offers-beijing-historic-opportunity-forge?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Apr 2018 05:07:56 +0000 China recently revised its constitution, as it has done several times in the past, but the extent of the changes this time were greater than before, and the impact will be too. Legislators voted this month to include President Xi Jinping’s political doctrine, “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era”, into the constitution, among other changes. In sum, the amendments leave the framework of the 1982 constitution intact, but they project a self-confidence that... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2138542/beyond-term-limits-chinas-new-constitution-written-nation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2138542/beyond-term-limits-chinas-new-constitution-written-nation?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 23 Mar 2018 04:59:14 +0000 The 19th Communist Party congress put China on the global stage, which has long been dominated by the United States. There’s no denying the two are caught in a Thucydides Trap, which warns that conflict may break out when an established power feels threatened by a rising power. The problem is that the US does not believe China’s claim of a peaceful rise. After all, the Chinese have a proverb that says “a mountain cannot contain two tigers”. And Western philosophy is built on a history of... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2134053/us-national-security-strategy-reflects-flaw-western-thinking?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2134053/us-national-security-strategy-reflects-flaw-western-thinking?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Feb 2018 09:15:15 +0000 The recent 19th national congress of the Chinese Communist Party and the historical fact of China’s decisive rise have put the US on edge. After the second world war, the United States became a global hegemony by the strength of its unrivalled soft power. By the end of the cold war, it became the world’s sole superpower. US-led economic globalisation and the third wave of democratisation, with America in the vanguard, led Francis Fukuyama to proclaim the “end of history”. America’s confidence... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2130470/china-must-brace-itself-fallout-america-superpower-losing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2130470/china-must-brace-itself-fallout-america-superpower-losing?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 26 Jan 2018 04:01:22 +0000 At the end of last year, China’s top legislative body, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, en­dorsed a controversial plan to set up a joint immigration checkpoint in the heart of Hong Kong for its high-speed rail linking Guangzhou. Response from the Hong Kong Bar Association was swift. In a strongly-worded statement, it said the Standing Committee had failed to provide any credible legal basis or constitutional legitimacy for its decision, which it called “the most retrograde... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2126992/china-has-changed-and-so-should-hong-kong-lawyers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2126992/china-has-changed-and-so-should-hong-kong-lawyers?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 07 Jan 2018 03:00:28 +0000 Three years after the ­Occupy protests, Hong Kong’s constitutional system is undergoing a subtle change, where “one country” has become more important, while “two systems” is under integration. The “full autonomy” movement launched by the opposition – with the support of local and foreign ­forces – is in a quandary, rendering them frustrated and powerless. “Hong Kong Independence” banners put up at university campuses were an expression of this frustration, while cold-blooded attacks on... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2113926/how-hong-kong-can-have-democracy-under-one-country-two?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2113926/how-hong-kong-can-have-democracy-under-one-country-two?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Oct 2017 09:05:14 +0000 As Lui Tai-lok, the chair professor of Hong Kong studies at the Education University, once so sharply observed, “An embarrassing Hong Kong is still in preparation”. Indeed. The recent appearance of pro-independence posters on several Hong Kong university campuses has sparked debate in society, not least over a widely circulated video in which a Chinese University student from the mainland was seen tearing down the posters put up on her university’s “democracy wall” and arguing with other... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2110978/prosecute-those-who-push-hong-kong-independence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2110978/prosecute-those-who-push-hong-kong-independence?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 14 Sep 2017 09:10:35 +0000 In recent days, the Hong Kong judiciary has underlined its intention to protect public order. First, Joshua Wong Chi-fung and two other young activists received tougher penalties for their involvement in an Occupy Central-related protest. Then, the Court of Final Appeal rejected a final bid by ousted pro-independence lawmakers Sixtus Baggio Leung Chung-hang and Yau Wai-ching to regain their Legislative Council seats. To a certain extent, the second case is the result of the first. After all, the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2109004/jailing-joshua-wong-and-fellow-activists-civil-disobedience?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2109004/jailing-joshua-wong-and-fellow-activists-civil-disobedience?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 31 Aug 2017 09:02:05 +0000 Discussion on a joint immigration checkpoint for Hong Kong’s high-speed railway to Guangzhou has been going on for a while, yet when the government formally unveiled its proposal last month, opponents still raised a hue and cry against the unreasonable “ceding of Hong Kong land”, the “violation of the Basic Law” and the “undermining of Hong Kong’s autonomy”. Hong Kong takes pride in its rule of law, and major decisions are generally made only after extensive public consultation. But differences... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2105973/joint-checkpoint-plan-heralds-new-era-hong-kong-mainland?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2105973/joint-checkpoint-plan-heralds-new-era-hong-kong-mainland?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 08 Aug 2017 11:49:24 +0000 After a court ruling ­unseated four of Hong Kong’s ­opposition lawmakers over their invalid oaths, the opposition camp criticised the government for abusing the rule of law for political purposes and working against voters’ wishes. They suggested that the court seemed to have succumbed to the interpretations of the Basic Law by the ­National People’s Congress and to government pressure. However, the criticisms are not convincing. First, there is no clear boundary between politics and the law.... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2103971/hong-kongs-legal-system-undergoing-nationalisation-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2103971/hong-kongs-legal-system-undergoing-nationalisation-and?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 25 Jul 2017 08:22:07 +0000 On his recent visit to Hong Kong to mark the handover anniversary, President Xi Jinping ( 習近平 ) delivered a speech reviewing at length the history of Hong Kong and the mainland. He denounced colonialism, and lauded the rise of nationalism as just and fair. How China’s top leader viewed Hong Kong’s history since 1840 – on the occasion of this historic moment – will have a great bearing on various issues relating to “one country, two systems”. Xi’s stance and rationale are clear. And such clarity... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2102115/hongkongers-should-heed-xi-jinpings-words-and-re-educate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2102115/hongkongers-should-heed-xi-jinpings-words-and-re-educate?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 11 Jul 2017 09:09:43 +0000 In the run-up to the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to Chinese sovereignty, the Democratic Party recently issued a 16-page document stating its views on democracy and reunification. Compared with the Civic Party, which marked the 10th year of its founding last year, the Democratic Party is more moderate and rational. While the Civic Party takes a more aggressively localist stance, the Democrats seek to maximise the city’s autonomy within the Basic Law framework. In a political scene that... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2099119/hong-kongs-democratic-party-wont-get-far-without-considering?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2099119/hong-kongs-democratic-party-wont-get-far-without-considering?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Jun 2017 05:31:10 +0000 Recently, four people associated with the Hong Kong democracy move­ment testified at a US government hearing on Hong Kong, at the invitation of the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China. They are: Martin Lee Chu-ming, the founding chairman of the Democratic Party; Chris Patten, the last governor of British Hong Kong; Joshua Wong Chi-fung, an icon of the city’s young localists; and Lam Wing-kee, a bookseller better known as a target of the mainland government’s cross-border law... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2093752/hong-kong-democracy-stalwarts-should-stop-calling-foreigners?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2093752/hong-kong-democracy-stalwarts-should-stop-calling-foreigners?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 May 2017 09:30:19 +0000 Hong Kong has not been calm after the chief executive election. Beijing has become more proactive, even tougher, in governing the city, and “one country” has grown in importance in the formula blending it with “two systems”. This change did not come about only recently. In the past few years, conflicts have erupted between Beijing and Hong Kong. Against this backdrop, the central government is gradually shedding its habit of self-restraint under the principle of “one country, two systems” and... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2092640/beijings-interventions-remind-hong-kong-importance-national?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2092640/beijings-interventions-remind-hong-kong-importance-national?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 May 2017 09:38:49 +0000 Beijing has exerted considerable influence in this year’s election, and judging from how the elite voted anonymously, Lam was elected with a high support rate. This shows the majority of elites still wish to rebuild Hong Kong, and view the intimacy between Lam and Beijing positively. It’s an opportunity for Lam. But she also faces a lot of thorny issues. The biggest among them would be Hong Kong’s youth, to whom she attached great importance in her platform. She needs to use education, economic... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2082290/hong-kong-chief-executive-elect-carrie-lams-popularity?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2082290/hong-kong-chief-executive-elect-carrie-lams-popularity?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Mar 2017 03:01:25 +0000 The recent sentencing of seven Hong Kong police officers for the assault of an Occupy protester sparked a public backlash. While the protester remains at large, the seven officers enforcing the law at the scene have been jailed. The court ruling sent a strong message that, in such social protest movements, the presiding judge’s moral support lies with the protester, while the hands of the law enforcers are tied. As a consequence, protesters will become even more radical. The excessive punishment... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2076687/jailing-occupy-police-officers-highlights-flaws-hong-kongs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2076687/jailing-occupy-police-officers-highlights-flaws-hong-kongs?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Mar 2017 06:56:09 +0000