Election
of the next chief executive is in full swing, with the vote slated for March
26. The election, along with the law enforcement activities of the Chinese
authorities, offer a good opportunity to examine whether Hong Kong residents
enjoy the high degree of autonomy they were promised under the "one
country, two systems" arrangement.
The signs have not been good. When Xiao Jianhua, a
mainland-born billionaire, was reported to have disappeared from a luxury hotel
in Hong Kong in late January, many locals felt uneasy. He appears to have been
snatched by Chinese operatives and taken to the mainland by force.
That followed incidents in late 2015 in which five
booksellers who sold works criticizing Beijing were spirited out of Hong Kong
one after another. The actions of Chinese security officers, taken in defiance
of Hong Kong laws, have severely undermined the one country, two systems
principle. This has big implications, both locally and internationally.
Hong Kongers, especially younger ones, are worried about
the future of the territory. Many observers believe a power struggle among
Communist Party factions on the mainland is behind the disappearances. The
party will hold its twice-a-decade congress in the second half of the year to
select the new members of the leadership. It would be a shame if Hong Kong's
autonomy became a casualty in the battle for hegemony among Chinese leaders.
Then there is the question of the election for chief executive.
When the former British colony was handed back to China in 1997, the Chinese
leadership pledged a one-person, one-vote system for electing the chief
executive. But the reform of the electoral system that China unilaterally
imposed on Hong Kong citizens in 2014 was designed to bar critics of Beijing
from running for the post. Pro-democracy protesters, mostly students, calling
themselves the Umbrella Movement, responded by blocking thoroughfares for
several months to demand genuine universal suffrage.
China's Communist leadership, headed by President Xi
Jinping, took a hard line, categorically rejecting the demands of the
protesters. In the end, the electoral reform process went back to square one:
This year's chief executive election will be held under the old, indirect
election system. Because the 1,200-strong Election Committee is largely made up
of pro-Beijing members, the central government will get the chief executive it
wants.
The incumbent, Leung Chun-ying, has already announced
that he is not running. Former Chief Secretary for Administration Carrie Lam
Cheng Yuet-ngor and former Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah are among
those who have officially announced their campaigns to succeed him.
One country, two systems was an acknowledgment by China
that prosperity in Hong Kong is good for the whole country. If the territory's
freedoms should fade away, it will lose much of its attractiveness and be less
able to attract capital and skilled people from around the world. Hong Kong
must try to safeguard its autonomy by working toward territory-wide elections
in the coming years.
Nikkei
Asia Review
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