Abstract
This volume sheds light on the problem of governance faced by the Hong Kong government. It is an updated and expanded edition of Contemporary Hong Kong Politics: Governance in the Post-1997 Era (edited by the same authors and Ian Holliday, Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2007) and a comprehensive study of post-colonial Hong Kong. There are two new chapters on democratic reform and political identity, while four chapters have been rewritten by new authors.
In the section on political institution, the five chapters conclude that the executive-led government has been unable to achieve smooth governance. Disarticulation between the executive, legislative, and civil service has led to abnormalities in Hong Kong politics. Various authors elaborate on the emergence of abnormalities and their implications. For example, radical democrats, demonstrating their discontent with the tyranny of the executive, adopted antics such as hurling bananas and objects at the chief executive and senior officials in the legislature. This filibuster was used by some pro-democracy legislators to force the government to withdraw its proposal restricting legislators who had resigned from running for by-elections. The continuation of the executive-led government model is a vicious cycle, diminishing the governing ability of Hong Kong.
The governance problem of post-handover Hong Kong can also be attributed to the inadequacy of the response of political institutions to the demands of civil society. Lam Wai-man explains that a strong local identity has emerged and has been embraced by the people of Hong Kong. Some social activists have been inspired to adopt a radical approach to safeguard local identity and challenge the Hong Kong government, largely regarded as a puppet of Beijing. They aim to protect Hong Kong from being transformed into one of the mainland cities. Lam correctly predicted that the national education scheme advocated by the Hong Kong government, and regarded as brainwashing Hong Kong students to instil patriotism but ignoring problems in the country, would trigger a strong opposition as evidenced by events in the summer of 2012.
The section on public policy explains the failure of governance on the part of the Hong Kong authorities and institutions in adopting the wrong ideology for policymaking. The overwhelming emphasis on economic development in public policy has triggered public discontent that has rocked the government even further. The frustration with governance in Hong Kong is also attributed to external pressures as discussed in the fourth section. According to Peter Cheung, Beijing’s Hong Kong policy focuses on the development of the domestic economy but ignores the disparity in culture and values between Hong Kong and the mainland. Ting Wai and Ellen Lai further explain that the people of Hong Kong want to maintain a more Westernized society in order to retain its competitiveness with mainland cities.
While Chinese leaders have recognized and reiterated the deep-rooted problems in Hong Kong, as described in Peter Cheung’s chapter, they are never explained by the authorities. Surely, it is not merely economic. Rather, clashes over values and identity suggest a deeply embedded problem. Beijing tends to believe that a benevolent government that can manage the economy well coupled with an improved social welfare system can win the hearts and minds of Hong Kong people. Perhaps economic development and social welfare may, to a certain extent, suppress the anti-integration sentiment of Hong Kong people, but this cannot really cure the root problem. The success of ‘one country, two systems’ must include elements accommodating local values and identity which are different from those of the state. This volume identifies the key issues of the mainland–Hong Kong conflict and gives an in-depth discussion of deep-rooted problems.
The first decade and a half of Hong Kong as a Special Administrative Region has not achieved harmony; instead, Hong Kong society is being polarized. The rise of radical forces has pushed Hong Kong society further away from integration with mainland China. The problems facing integration seem to be obvious as demonstrated by disputes over various social issues such as babies born of non-citizen mainland mothers, national education, social problems from mainland itinerant traders in Hong Kong, and the cooperation between Guangdong Province and Hong Kong for the reform and development of the Pearl River delta. The people of Hong Kong have been wary of the continuation of mainland–Hong Kong interaction that will sooner or later result in the dissolution of the Hong Kong identity. Indeed, radical forces have been receiving increasing support from the grass roots. In the 2012 legislative direct elections, the overall votes won by the radical People Power and League of Social Democrats were higher than the former pro-democracy flagship Democratic Party, regarded as a ‘softliner’ (as opposed to hardliner) and criticized for its betrayal of democracy because of its support for the 2010/2011 political reform packaged by radical democrats. One regret is that the manuscript of the book was finished a year early and did not address the interesting events of 2012, which were forceful demonstrations supporting the arguments of this volume. Perhaps they provide an incentive for the third edition.
This book is not only useful to researchers and students of Hong Kong politics, Hong Kong officials and politicians, as well as mainland officials in charge of Hong Kong affairs, but it is also helpful to those who are concerned about and interested in Taiwan’s unification in relation to various issues involved in the realization of one country, two systems. The Hong Kong experience may project a mirror image of Taiwan’s unification if Beijing does not adjust its unification strategy and approach towards Taiwan. Small in size and with a population of 7 million, Hong Kong is a thorn in Beijing’s side with regard to the actualization of one country, two systems. Nonetheless, Hong Kong’s experience may inspire the authorities of both the mainland and Taiwan to shape their unification policies for peace across the Taiwan Strait.