Talks should focus on realistic timetable for democratisation
A temporal road map for democratisation in Hong Kong post-1997 was a fundamental feature of both the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law.
A temporal road map for democratisation in Hong Kong post-1997 was a fundamental feature of both the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law.
In particular, Article 45 of the Basic Law uses the specific language of "gradual and orderly progress" and "the ultimate aim" for the election of the chief executive. The singular word "ultimate" is crucial. In other words, the whole process of democratisation was always envisaged to take place over 50 years.
By 2017, 20 years would have passed but there will still be 30 years remaining. Surely, this is the best argument today of both the Chinese and the Hong Kong governments for the latest decision by the National People's Congress. So why have neither articulated this critical time factor much more clearly and emphatically to the people of Hong Kong?
This glaring omission plus the continual defeatist attitude of the Hong Kong government, not to mention second-guessing what Beijing wants in dealing with our own Hong Kong police force, are all proof of the sad mismanagement of the recent events, as well as political naiveté. Our chief executive should have been much more forthcoming and not treated the demonstrators as he has done, stipulating preconditions for meetings.
I have a great deal of sympathy for the student demonstrators and Occupy Central protesters, but their demands would have considerably more force and clear justification if we were much nearer to 2046. We must all accept with patience this temporal road map. Furthermore, their tactic of paralysing the territory is not sustainable.
Already, the ordinary citizens whom they aim to protect and champion are grumbling about the civic inconveniences of daily life. Sooner or later, they will prefer a peaceful way of life without the intellectualism of democracy.
Accordingly, I hope any debate between the two sides should put the timetable for democratisation at the centre, because that is the simplest and strongest argument for bridging the differences between the two sides. I was, therefore, very disappointed again to see that the Hong Kong government did not raise this issue at the talks with the students on Tuesday. If nothing else, it would have been critical to hear from the students (and therefore Occupy Central) how they could justify their apparent acceleration of the temporal road map.
This is surely the very canyon of differences that requires narrowing between the two sides.
