For its 70th National Day, a strong China can afford to grant Hong Kong protesters’ wishes

Are flag-waving, anthem-singing patriots or underperforming officials what China needs? Beijing should consider fostering genuine patriotism in Hong Kong under ‘one country, two systems’, by responding to Hongkongers’ needs

Phil C. W. ChanandPaul Serfaty

Published: 9:00am, 21 Sep 2019

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Beijing had warned that its tolerance of protests in Hong Kong, now entering their 16th week, should not be taken as weakness. Thanks to Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, Beijing’s hand has been revealed and Hongkongers – and the world – know Beijing cares, quite rightly, about its international reputation too much to intervene by force.

Instead, large contingents of mainland visitors have come in recent days to Hong Kong to sing the Chinese national anthem in shopping malls, with Chinese national flags occasionally used literally as weapons in brawls with protesters and residents. Some of these visitors came with post-dated receipts for medical treatment. In turn, Hongkongers have embraced every opportunity to sing Glory to Hong Kong .

Putting aside the question of whether something as solemn as the Chinese national anthem or flag should be used in this manner, singing duels are unlikely to resolve the crisis engulfing this city. An international financial hub is not a kindergarten playground.

Encouraging vocal and physical duels with compatriots is beneath a superpower. Furthermore, such unseemly displays of patriotism exacerbate tensions between Hong Kong and Beijing, in a way that adds credence to the narrative that Hong Kong is merely a colony of China, rather than part of one country sharing the fruits of its rejuvenation.

Pro-Beijing demonstrators display a large Chinese flag as they gather to sing and chant slogans in a shopping mall in the Tai Kok Tsui district on September 13. Photo: AFP

In a spirit of festivity ahead of China’s 70th National Day on October 1, we suggest some solutions that hopefully could help end Hong Kong’s worst catastrophe since the second world war. First, Lam must go. Her lingering at Government House is a gangrene that infects the body politic. Hong Kong society cannot begin to heal with her in office. The “unforgivable havoc” she has admitted to having wreaked in Hong Kong is sufficient cause for dismissal.

Lam has also, carelessly at best and intentionally at worst, told the world of her heartfelt desire to quit, along with the national leadership’s military and political strategies. No CEO of any major corporation would keep such an employee. China deserves better. Hong Kong deserves better.

Did Carrie Lam just say sorry behind closed doors?

Second, all non-official members of the Executive Council must be replaced. Throughout the extradition bill saga, they failed comprehensively to offer sound advice to the government and, by extension, Beijing.

Since protests erupted in June, a number of them have sought to distance themselves from the government, by suggesting dialogues they previously regarded as unnecessary, or worse by peddling disinformation such as the story of girls offering “free sex” to frontline protesters as if they were comfort women.

As two millennia of Chinese history should have taught us, a powerful country falters when its leaders are surrounded by political eunuchs who care only about their own interests. China and Hong Kong deserve better.

Third, functional constituencies need to be abolished, even if not immediately. Apart from many of these legislators’ vested interests in siding with the government and their incapacity to exercise proper scrutiny of government policies, they will never command legitimacy in Hongkongers’ eyes, let alone in times of acute crisis. Beijing’s recent admonition to Hong Kong property tycoons rings hollow if half of Hong Kong’s legislature continues to be controlled by sectoral interests.

Fourth, Beijing should re-engage in genuine dialogue with Hongkongers about universal suffrage promised in the Basic Law. Hongkongers are a sophisticated species who yearn to embrace China’s successes, in a system that recognises our unique characteristics. Such is the essence of “one country, two systems”. It fosters heartfelt patriotism that no money can buy or wither.

Quebec offers a useful model for how to develop mutual understanding between Hong Kong and Beijing. For decades, the French-speaking Canadian province demanded independence, a movement which led to kidnappings, a murder and a peacetime invocation of war measures legislation in 1970, and which culminated in a referendum in 1995 that pro-independence voters lost by the narrowest of margins.

The trouble with trying to turn Hong Kong’s youth into ‘patriots’

With Canada’s enhanced recognition of Quebec’s political, social and cultural characteristics, Quebec independence is now a negligible issue in Canadian politics. Quebecois have fully embraced their identity as Quebecois/Canadians.

Fifth, within Hong Kong, community relations between the yellow and blue camps – or the black and white shirts – have taken a battering to a degree unprecedented in Hong Kong’s history. An independent inquiry that looks into all events since June, and actions by both police and protesters, is vital to Hong Kong’s recovery.

The purpose of such an inquiry is not to assign blame, or allow for leniency, but to provide truth and justice for the past and lessons for the future.

Sixth, amnesty for all found to have engaged in illegal actions in relation to protests since June, with September 30 as a cut-off date, will pave the way for reconciliation. Hong Kong cannot become a divided society such as the West Bank where hate festers.

Eight ways for Hong Kong to find hope again

It is possible that, by refusing the protesters’ four remaining demands, Beijing is repelling the notion of protests bringing about political change, lest it spread across the border. We believe that by responding to Hongkongers’ needs at this critical juncture, Beijing will show Hong Kong truly enjoys its own system within China’s embrace.

It will also prove that Hong Kong, and the world, can count on Beijing to keep its word. It would be strong, compassionate leadership at its most virtuous and forward-looking.

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Phil C.W. Chan is senior fellow at the Institute for Security and Development Policy, and author of the book China, State Sovereignty and International Legal Order. Paul Serfaty is a Cambridge-educated barrister and investor who has been living in Hong Kong for over 30 years

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