As Hong Kong's people get back to work and their routine after the
New Year holiday, they will understandably be looking ahead. 2004 is shaping up
to be a decisive year for Hong Kong democracy. Twenty years after the Joint Declaration
was signed, the people of Hong Kong, who were given no role in that negotiation
and no opportunity to agree to its terms, have made it clear they will be a
force in determining Hong Kong's political development.
In one sense, the year began on a disappointing note. The Chief
Executive's policy address fell far short of people's hopes and the ominous
statement from Beijing immediately following it drew back the curtain even
further on Beijing's role in Hong Kong. The subsequent visit by legal experts
from Beijing delivered more bad news.
But the meaning of these events is subject to more than one
interpretation. They have reinforced rather than sapped the strong desire of
the Hong Kong people for democracy and for participation in decisions about
their political development and governance. To an increasing number of people throughout
the world, that is a good, not a troubling thing.
Indeed, looking around the region, it is clear that Hong Kong people
are not alone. Nearby East Timor has emerged from an era of brutal colonial
rule by Portugal and Indonesia to embrace democracy. Meanwhile, democrats in Cambodia
and Burma, struggle against great odds to achieve the promise of freedom. And
then of course, Taiwan is pursuing its democracy even though China disparages
and threatens it.
Hong Kong's situation is unique. It has not gone through the
shattering experiences of genocide. Its colonial past left much that Hong Kong
people revere as their own, particularly a long tradition of the rule of law
and now over twenty-one years' experience with limited democracy. In short, it
is well equipped to take the last step toward an elected chief executive and
elected legislature. As the recent poll by the Hong Kong Transition Project
showed, Hong Kong's people want that.
Yet, its people are trying to adopt democracy within a communist
party dictatorship. More daunting, they are still trying to do so pursuant to
the central government's own blue print for constitutional development.
As Hong Kong people know, the Basic Law presents many obstacles to democracy.
Drafted and approved by Beijing, it retains much control for the central
government. Moreover, it is vague on crucial points concerning the future of
democracy.
One avenue for interpreting the Basic Law as allowing democracy soon
has already been closed. We now know that the surviving drafters of the Basic Law
do not think its provisions allow democracy soon. Of course, none other than
Deng Xiao-ping himself denied that the Basic Law should be the basis for truly
democratic elections for the legislature or the chief executive. Deng even told
the Basic Law's drafters that real autonomy for Hong Kong was impossible and
unrealistic.
Legal analysis only goes so far, Hong Kong democrats have found. Democracy
requires political will - theirs and Beijing's.
So far of course, Beijing has not been encouraging. Instead,
continues to pour cold water on the idea of democracy for Hong Kong. Its
reflexive response does not acknowledge the commitment and mobilization of the
Hong Kong people. Moreover, it has rebuffed the international community, especially
Great Britain and the United States for their statements of support for
democracy.
When Beijing tells democracies to mind their own business, it should
remember that the Joint Declaration was an international agreement, registered
at the United Nations. Respect for such agreements is a matter of concern to
the whole world and a core element of China's bilateral relations with the
world's leading democracies.
When Beijing tells the United States not to interfere, our leaders
must realize that standing with Hong Kong's people is crucial to their ability to
achieve democracy. This support is needed from the highest level of American
leadership, in the executive branch and the Congress. Without it, Beijing will
assume that democracy in Hong Kong is not a priority of the United States.
There are other things the international community of democracies
must also do to help Hong Kong. The United States routinely makes expert advice
and aid for democracy a key part of its foreign policy and aid strategies. In his
State of the Union speech, last month, President Bush pledged to increase
greatly funding for the National Endowment for Democracy. A people's convention
on democracy in Hong Kong might invite constitutional experts, political party
leaders, journalists, religious and labor leaders from the United States and
other countries who have experience in helping new democracies throughout the
world. Several prominent American organizations have become involved in China's
village elections. Hong Kong deserves to be a concern of these same
organizations.
One way or another, the coming year will be an historic one for Hong
Kong. Doubters of Hong Kong's prospects for democracy often say that it will
only come about when there is change in Beijing. There is reason to hope that 2004
will be the year that Beijing changes by granting that its framework for
governing Hong Kong can, in fact, allow Hong Kong's people the freedom and
democracy they seek.
[The author has served as Attorney
General of the United States and as Under-Secretary-General of the United
Nations. He chairs the U.S. Committee for Hong Kong, a bipartisan group that
supports democracy and the rule of law in Hong Kong]