HONG KONG - I'm pleased
that my April 8 article Hong Kong politics: Business as
usual has generated so much discussion. The
worst thing for Hong Kong would be for no one on the
outside to care.
Several letters repeat the big
lie that Hong Kong democrats didn't complain about the
lack of democracy under the British. I only arrived in
1995 and didn't pay a lot of attention before that, but
Martin Lee, Szeto Wah, Margaret Ng, Emily Lau and others
fought the colonial government for greater democracy.
If you want to criticize people for sucking up
to the British, let's talk about Tung Chee-hwa, who
served on the colonial government executive council, or
Sir Gordon Wu, knighted by the queen and now praising
Beijing's moves to curtail freedom in Hong Kong. There's
somebody who has spit on his brethren, whichever way the
wind blows. The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce
where David O'Rear works boasts many similar highly
placed weather vanes among its membership.
As my
article concludes, perhaps not obviously enough, it's
not Beijing but Hong Kong's privileged classes that have
the most to lose from expansion of democracy and
government accountability in Hong Kong. That's why they
applaud and encourage Beijing's decisions that protect
their privileges.
I do agree that Mr Lee's
penchant for identifying himself with knuckle-walking
politicians in the United States is not helpful to his
cause, and I'm not especially happy finding myself on
the same side of any issue with Dick Cheney. But all of
that has nothing to do with the substance of the debate.
I didn't "spit on Beijing", as letter writer G
Travan (Apr 9) asserts, but I spit on the argument that
curtailing the fight for self-determination in Hong Kong
will bring freedom to the mainland. I think a free,
democratic Hong Kong brings freedom for the mainland
closer to reality; that's precisely what troubles the
rulers in Beijing, I believe.
I agree with J
Zhang (Apr 14) that we should be "pro-China and
pro-democracy" or, as we say here, "love Hong Kong, love
the motherland". The problem is not that Hong Kong
democrats don't love the motherland. No one here seeks
to violently overthrow the government in Beijing, though
some would like to see it change. No, the problem is
that the motherland has moved to deny Hong Kong people
self-rule.
Michael Lou (writing from Milton,
Massachusetts, Apr 14) scolds this Hong Kong resident to
"butt out", saying that "Hong Kong is China's internal
affair" - the point is that Hong Kong should be Hong
Kong's internal affair. "The future of Hong Kong will be
created by the Hong Kong people themselves ... We hope
our Hong Kong compatriots will treasure the opportunity
to become the masters of their homeland." That's what
Premier Wen Jiabao said last July 1.
Put aside
the lies, the posturing, the race-baiting and the
name-calling. Hong Kong democrats just want Beijing to
live up to those words and the Basic Law, to let Hong
Kong people exercise their promised "high degree of
autonomy" to expand local democracy to create that
future and master their fate.
(Copyright 2004
Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights reserved. Please
contact content@atimes.com for
information on our sales and syndication
policies.)
Apr 17, 2004
No
material from Asia Times Online may be republished in any form without written
permission.
Copyright
2003, Asia Times Online, 4305 Far East Finance Centre, 16 Harcourt Rd,
Central, Hong Kong
