Hongkongers feel betrayed by the system. Here are eight ways for the city to find hope again

Hong Kong is not alone in facing problems, beginning with widening inequality and middle-class stagnation. In times of distress, we must seek ways to secure our future as a critically important city

David Dodwell

Published: 9:15am, 16 Sep 2019

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It is helpful, and in a perverse way comforting, to be reminded that the challenges we are wrestling with in Hong Kong are not ours alone, but are being felt worldwide. Whether that helps us discover ways to restore calm and a unity of purpose across the community is another matter.

So it gave me pause when I raked through old articles and rediscovered a piece from April by Martin Wolf for the Financial Times. He was wringing his hands over all the things that have gone pear-shaped in the recent past, especially since the global financial crash of 2008: the surge in demagoguery and the terrible mess democracies around the world seem to be in.

Noting that stability is rooted in widely shared prosperity, he was anxious in particular about widening inequalities, and a sense of stress and hopeless stagnancy among many in the middle class.

In a quest to discover how hope might be restored, he identified 10 things that mattered – and they matter as much to Hong Kong as to the rest of the world. I will cut his list to eight, which of course in Asia is much luckier.

First, leadership matters. As Wolf argued: “Democratic politics … is about persuading people.” Great leaders are always great storytellers. Where are Hong Kong’s storytellers – the people with a vision for our future as a critically important part of China; the people with a clear sense of what has made Hong Kong successful and what we need to persuade China to emulate if it is to recover its appropriate place in the global economy?

Sadly, so far, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Yuet-ngor has failed this test. If China under the “one country, two systems” framework is to capitalise on the strengths Hong Kong brings, then this must urgently change. Lam must either step aside, or demonstrate her vision for Hong Kong’s role in China’s future development.

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Second, competence matters. Whatever Hong Kong’s democratic deficit, the view has always been that the competence of the Hong Kong administration makes up for that deficit. But the events of the past six months have raised grave questions, with our leaders blinking in the headlights. The very least we need from our administration is competence.

Third, citizenship matters. As Wolf noted: “A democracy is a community of citizens. The sense of what is owed to – and expected from – citizens is the foundation of successful democracies. Without the idea that citizens come first, there can be no … community.”

Right now, citizens in Hong Kong feel profoundly betrayed. Our administration cannot expect them to act as citizens if they are not treated as citizens. A meaningful sense has to be restored that our administration is listening to and taking account of our community of citizens, rather than being cowed by the might of a tiny business elite.

Fourth, inclusion matters. The sense in Hong Kong today is that when our administration is not paying obeisance to Beijing, it is pursuing the interests of the tiny business elite. During a visit to Hong Kong this month, Kishore Mahbubani of Singapore noted that successful democracies are those that listen to, and take account of, the concerns of the bottom 50 per cent.

He would argue that this is a fundamental difference between Hong Kong and Singapore. To some extent, the top 50 per cent can look after themselves. The priority for government must be to identify the needs and concerns of the bottom 50 per cent, and ensure the possibility exists for a family to lift itself to a brighter and more secure future.

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Ridiculously low minimum wage levels need to be reviewed. Redistributive taxes – like capital gains taxes on all properties except the principal home, or on interest earnings on equities or other investments, or on consumer luxuries like Porsches or Chateau Latour or Gucci handbags – need to be considered. Access to a reasonably priced home is fundamental.

Fifth, public services matter. Hong Kong’s foundations here remain strong, but we can never neglect the importance of a strong public service infrastructure. In the present distress, this plays a first responder role in rebuilding confidence in a damaged administration.

Sixth, globalisation and global cooperation matter. Few economies rely so fundamentally on global business flows and a liberal trade and investment environment. We absolutely need stable and predictable rules for global business, regardless of the national sovereignty of the companies operating in and through Hong Kong.

There is no place for prejudice or bias against international businesses creating a home in Hong Kong – whether they are European, American or from mainland China. A local protest movement that attacks foreigners – or mainland Chinese – cannot be allowed to blossom if Hong Kong’s future as a conduit for global business is to be preserved.

Seventh, looking ahead matters. Wolf was looking at big trends here: “We live in a world of large long-term upheavals, notably climate change, artificial intelligence and the rise of Asia.”

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As Hong Kong’s present unrest focuses on important but more parochial issues like the future shape of our democratic institutions, it is important for our administration not to forget the larger forces shaping our future.

Finally, Wolf reminded us that complexity also matters. As has often been noted, for every complex problem, there is an answer that is simple, clear and wrong. For Hong Kong, there is no silver bullet. A lot of things are wrong, and they all have to be dealt with in their own time.

We need to recognise that there are no quick solutions to the problems that have brought turbulence to our streets in recent months, but that with careful attention paid to the many different forces at play, solutions can be found.

Whatever the complaints about President Xi Jinping’s strongman rule, if he and his administration are serious that the “two systems” part of “one country, two systems” is indispensable for China’s successful re-engagement with the global economy, then they too must play a constructive role – not hectoring critics, but showing recognition of the unusual chemistry of Hong Kong’s citizenry.

But first, our own administration must demonstrate a capacity to tell our own story. So far, it has let us down.

David Dodwell researches and writes about global, regional and Hong Kong challenges from a Hong Kong point of view

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