Emily LAU: Beijing rules out democracy in Hong Kong

27 April 2004

Seven years after Britain handed Hong Kong over to the People's Republic of China, Beijing has lost patience with the Hong Kong people's demand for democracy. Within one month, the Chinese Government has moved with lightning speed to snuff out the people's desire for constitutional reforms.

On 26 April, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's rubberstamp parliament, ruled out direct election by universal suffrage for the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) in 2007. It also rejected direct election for all members of the lawmaking Legislative Council (Legco) in 2008 by stipulating that half of the Legco members should be directly elected and the other half should continue to be returned by functional constituencies consisting mainly of chambers of commerce, business and professional people.

With such a decision, Beijing has shattered the Hong Kong people's hope for a quicker pace of democracy. It has ridden roughshod over public opinion and runs the risk of provoking strong reactions from many sectors of the community. With such blatant intervention, Beijing has abandoned any pretense of giving the SAR "a high degree of autonomy" under former leader Deng Xiaoping's concept of "one country, two systems."

In so doing, Beijing has also ignored stipulations in Annex I and II of the Basic Law, which provide for a mechanism to change the method of elections in 2007 and 2008. Although the mechanism has not been activated and public consultation has not commenced, the NPC Standing Committee decided to rule out direct elections in 2007 and 2008 because Hong Kong "does not have such conditions." This is most offensive and humiliating.

No only does Beijing have no respect for the wishes of the Hong Kong people, it does not even abide by the Basic Law. Furthermore, it is questionable whether the Standing Committee has the power to make such a legally binding declaration. If this is really the case, the Basic Law will be reduced to nothing but scrap paper. In future, the Standing Committee can make declarations with impunity on any subject and make them binding on the SAR. This is sheer lawlessness.

Ever since the massive demonstrations on 1 July last year which attracted well over half a million protestors, the Hong Kong people have shown signs of heightened political awareness and maturity. The peaceful and orderly protests have won praise and admiration from the international community.

Subsequent to these historic marches, a much-criticized law on national security based on Article 23 of the Basic Law had to be withdrawn from Legco, because the usually pro-government Liberal Party refused to support the bill. The development no doubt angered Beijing, which saw Mr Tung as both ineffectual and incompetent.

A few months later, there was further bad news for Beijing. On 23 November, the pro-Beijing political party - the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB) -- was trounced in the local district council elections. That must have set alarm bells ringing in the capital. When Mr Tung went to Beijing in early December, President Hu Jintao expressed grave concern about developments in the SAR. Perhaps it was at that juncture that the central government decided to put the brakes on the democratisation process.

There is little doubt that Beijing has lost confidence in Mr Tung. Beijing was unhappy with his inability to enact legislation on national security and was shocked by the poor performance of the DAB in the district council elections, because the DAB specifically named the unpopular Mr Tung as a reason for their electoral defeat.

Looking to the future, Beijing is concerned that many people would take to the streets again on 1 July this year to press their demands for democratic elections in 2007 and 2008. It is also worried that the DAB would be humiliated again in the Legco elections to be held on 12 September.

On the other hand, pro-democracy parties have said they would try to win at least half of the 60 seats in Legco, so that they can exert more influence on the Tung administration. Beijing regards such scenario as anathema and is said to be concerned that the situation may get out of hand. As Hong Kong enters the Legco election campaign period, many pro-democracy candidates have vowed to make direct election in 2007 and 2008 the central plank of their platform.

I understand the central government has concerns but think those worries are unfounded. Beijing should know the pro-democracy movement is not hellbent on creating chaos. We are not trying to make Hong Kong independent or to overthrow the Communist Party. We just want what we have been promised in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law -- a high degree of autonomy and Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong.

In order to help the pro-Beijing and pro-business parties win the September election, Beijing decided to act swiftly to scotch demands for direct election in 2007 and 2008. Yesterday's decision by the Standing Committee is an attempt to lay the matter to rest. However the pro-democracy camp will not allow the issue to be forgotten.

We will urge the more than 1.5 million people who have not yet registered as voters to register before the deadline on 16 May. We will urge the people to take part in the demonstration on 1 July to press their demands for democracy. We will mobilize the people to vote on 12 September and turn that occasion into a quasi referendum on direct election in 2007 and 2008. Although Beijing has spoken, we refuse to be intimidated into silence. The fight for democracy will go on.

Last night, over 30 pro-democracy Legco members and district council chairmen and vice-chairmen walked out of a meeting with mainland and SAR officials. Before we left the meeting room, Dr Yeung Sum, chairman of the Democratic Party, read out a letter which said we welcome dialogue with Beijing but could not accept the fait accompli. We then unfurled a banner saying we oppose Hong Kong being run by Beijing cadres and vowed the fight for democracy will go on.

This morning, The Frontier held a "black news conference" to protest against the central government's rough handling of the democratisation issue and its blatant disregard for Hong Kong public opinion. Thirty odd Frontier members all dressed in black. We stressed this was not a sign of death, but a sign of protest against the central government. In a sign of continuing protest, I said I would wear black in the coming month to exhibit daily my anger and disgust, and I invited all like minded people to take similar action to give vent to their pent up feelings.

In the coming weeks and months, I will consult Legco members and the NGOs in order to map out the way forward. I will also attend this evening's meeting of the Civil Rights Front, the umbrella grouping which organised the 1 July march last year. In planning our way forward, we must work closely with other political parties and civil society to build a strong consensus.

Last year when President Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao came to power, there was a wave of optimism that a more enlightened leadership has taken over. If this is true, how can President Hu and Premier Wen allow such high handed and unreasonable behaviour? How can they ignore the wishes of the Hong Kong people and violate stipulations in the Basic Law? I hope President Hu and Premier Wen know that many Hong Kong people cannot accept the NPC Standing Committee's decision and I urge them to come out to explain why Beijing acted in such a way. In taking such drastic action, China and Hong Kong have to pay a heavy price.