Opinion | Can a grand dialogue help people reflect and heal a divided Hong Kong? Maybe. Dare we hold one? Probably not
- Reconciliation efforts elsewhere show the power of honest dialogue where people can speak up and be heard, leading to a deeper understanding and ultimately resolution
- But the process requires courage, and a willingness to transcend long-held positions
While Hong Kong was returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997, the political “core values” of its people are “Western” and “liberal”. After all, Hong Kong was a British colony for a very long time, and its legal and administrative systems are rooted in the liberal tradition even though the vast majority of Hong Kong people are ethnically Chinese.
Hong Kong people looked to the West for ideas, education and trade. Western market liberalism was on the rise at one time, and its attraction was capitalism and personal freedom under a well-developed system of the rule of law. That was seen to be the ideal way of organising society and for personal advancement.
With China catching up in socio-economic terms under a communist ideological and political system, which the liberal West sees as illiberal and lacking the rule of law, Hong Kong people are fearful that their way of life will have to give way under Chinese sovereignty, sooner or later.
The “one country, two systems” principle and the promised “high degree of autonomy” still mean the central people’s government has overall jurisdiction over Hong Kong. Thus, when there are conflicts between the “two systems”, Hong Kong people feel they will lose out in the end.
