Beijing’s point man in Hong Kong could clear the air on patriotism and freedom of speech
- A pro-establishment lawmaker’s criticism of a former Legco president’s questions about certain aspects of the proposed Article 23 legislation is troubling
- The director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, who is visiting the city, could clarify how patriotism and constructive criticism can coexist
The office said Xia aims to “work with the Hong Kong government and all sectors of society to plan a new stage of development for Hong Kong to better safeguard its long-term prosperity and stability and the long-term development of ‘one country, two systems’”.
Hong Kong enacting local laws to safeguard national security, fulfilling our constitutional obligation under Article 23 of the Basic Law, is no doubt a central government priority. Xia’s visit, during the last week of the public consultation on the legislation, is politically significant. These laws, after all, are meant to protect the interests of the country.
Jasper Tsang Yok-sing, former president of the Legislative Council and a pro-establishment political heavyweight, in an op-ed published in Ming Pao on February 6 asked whether the revised definition of sedition was too broad and the list of state secrets proposed was exhaustive enough.
Chan’s line of attack suggests that constructive criticism, and even highlighting what the government has already said are concerns that have been aired, is not to be tolerated in today’s patriots-only political system. Does the targeting of Tsang, whose patriotic credentials are solid, mean that patriots are held to a different standard? Are patriots only supposed to write op-eds for certain newspapers?
Have lawmakers forgotten that their duty is to scrutinise bills, to make good laws essentially, even if they want to support the government? Chan says she attacked Tsang out of the sense of a duty to defend the Article 23 legislation in support of Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung’s “rebuttal” mission. Tang has been very clear about what sort of comments are considered “hostile smears”. Tsang’s comments do not fall anywhere near that vicinity.
The bigger danger here is that support for the government and scrutinising bills are being seen as mutually exclusive. Perhaps an “opposition-minded” person would see it that way. But they are not mutually exclusive – a lawmaker can support the government by making sure that the government’s policies and bills are sound. Judging those who raise legitimate questions about the government’s proposals is not conducive to rational debate.
As Xia is working with the government this week to better safeguard Hong Kong’s long-term stability, his team should take note of this type of infighting within the patriotic camp. He must clear the air on this sort of toxic rationale, which insists that certain members of society are not allowed to raise even constructive criticism and that some can only speak through certain channels and publications.
Alice Wu is a political consultant and a former associate director of the Asia Pacific Media Network at UCLA