Ten years after Hong Kong's handover, China's increasing interference is turning a “high degree of autonomy” into a “high degree of Chinese political control.”
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) today (June 28, 2007) issued an “Analysis Report: 10 Years After Hong Kong's Handover.” The report indicated that over the past 10 years, China has tightened its political control over Hong Kong, continued to strongly interfere in Hong Kong's affairs, and restricted the development of Hong Kong's political system. Moreover, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) government has imposed self-restraint on its own autonomy. As such, Hong Kong's “high degree of autonomy” has turned into a “high degree of Chinese political control.” In addition, China has had its National People's Congress (NPC) interpret Hong Kong's Basic Law three times, which makes the interpretation by the NPC have an overriding status above the Basic Law, thus seriously impairing Hong Kong's political and judicial independence. “Self-censorship” by the media has also resulted in increasing restrictions on freedom of the press and freedom of speech in Hong Kong. The MAC appeals to the international community to express concerns about various developments in Hong Kong, including the political reform and freedom of the press in Hong Kong, in order to jointly promote Hong Kong’s democratic development.
According to this report, over the past 10 years since Hong Kong's handover, there have been at least 175 controversial cases involving China’s violation of its “one country, two systems” pledge for Hong Kong (Please visit the MAC website for a table of the cases). For example, China peremptorily overruled the holding of a direct election for the Chief Executive in Hong Kong before 2007 through the Hong Kong SAR government’s request for the NPC’s interpretation of the Basic Law. NPC Standing Committee Chairman Wu Bangguo even fiercely expressed that “Hong Kong's high degree of autonomy is granted by the central government; and Hong Kong has as much autonomy as the central government allows.” Wu’s such statement has not only seriously altered the meaning of a “high degree of autonomy,” but has also violated China’s commitment to maintaining Hong Kong’s “political autonomy.” Moreover, in 2003, under pressure from China, the HKSAR government resolved to draft a National Security Bill that would have curtailed freedom and the rule of law in Hong Kong and violated China's pledge to respect human rights and freedom in Hong Kong. The proposed bill led over 500,000 people to take to the streets in protest. Furthermore, China has constantly used administrative resources to induce and pressure individuals and organizations into obeying its directives. For example, China has exerted control over the content of news reporting by having Chinese organizations purchase shares of Hong Kong media. This is also a violation of China’s pledge to guarantee “freedom of the press and freedom of speech.”
The report also indicated that Hong Kong's economic performance is inseparably tied to the economic situation in China. When Hong Kong faced an economic slowdown, China provided several preferential measures, such as signing a Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) with Hong Kong; allowing residents of 49 Chinese cities to make “individual visits” to Hong Kong; and allowing Hong Kong banks to provide renminbi (RMB) services for individual customers. It has also recently allowed China’s financial institutions to issue RMB-denominated bonds in Hong Kong. All of these measures have certainly been conducive to Hong Kong's economic growth. However, due to an over-reliance on China, Hong Kong's economy lacks autonomy and suffers from the crisis arising from economic risks in China. Moreover, although the “individual visit” policy has benefited Hong Kong’s economy, it has also created public security problems for Hong Kong, such as visa overstays, theft, street begging, prostitution, and the use of medical resources by pregnant Chinese women going to Hong Kong to give birth. Due to the increasingly frequent interactions between China and Hong Kong, the problem of integrating Hong Kong residents and new coming Chinese immigrants is also worthy of attention.
The MAC indicated that if democracy is the ultimate path for China, as the Chinese leaders have recently stated, then China should learn how to carry out democracy as early as possible and Hong Kong is the most appropriate place for the Chinese authorities to learn how to do so. Whether in terms of cultural development, concept of the rule of law, economic strength, diversity of society, or degree of internationalization, Hong Kong is in possession of everything necessary for implementing full democracy. If the Chinese government can fulfill its pledge of “Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong with a high degree of autonomy,” and successfully carry out democracy in Hong Kong, it will be inevitable that Beijing will gain more confidence to let the Chinese people also enjoy freedom and democracy. This is the role that the Chinese government should play. Only when China becomes an open and free country that not only respects human rights but is also moving toward democracy, will it be possible to truly promote peaceful and stable development across the Taiwan Strait.