August, 2006

When and How Can Hong Kong Achieve Universal Suffrage?

Rose Wu

As many people noted, with the rebound of Hong Kong's economy and a relatively calm social atmosphere, this year's July 1 demonstration might be hit by a sharp drop in numbers. Even optimists could not deny that the democratic movement was at a low point. However, the larger-than-expected turnout of 58,000, according to the organisers, during the demonstration on the handover anniversary indicated that a significant proportion of the population still feels strongly about Hong Kong's democracy, sending a clear message to Beijing as well as the Hong Kong government that Hong Kong's people want universal suffrage and they want it soon.

Recently, the universal suffrage issue heated up with the return to the political stage of two former senior government officials, ex-Chief Secretary Anson Chan Fan On-sang and former security chief Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee. Mrs. Chan has stepped up pressure on Chief Executive Donald Tsang to lobby Beijing for the early introduction of universal suffrage beginning with her decision to participate and be counted among the pro-democracy marchers on July 1. She followed her involvement in the march with a public speech in which she announced the formation of a core group to produce a constitutional reform proposal which she hopes will be acceptable to both the Hong Kong and Chinese governments.

In her speech on Hong Kong's constitutional arrangements, Mrs. Chan criticised the current system, asserting that it was fundamentally flawed and could never encourage politicians to govern with responsibility because political parties, supported by the people, she explained, could never aspire to be the ruling party under the present constitutional arrangement. In addition to seeking universal suffrage, Mrs. Chan also called for legislation on political parties. She hopes the parties will soon be able to shape government policies and their representatives accept ministerial posts.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Yip, once a key defender of Article 23 national security legislation who was forced to step down after the July 1 demonstration in 2003, returned to Hong Kong's political stage two months ago. In a summary of her Stanford master's thesis, published in all major newspapers in early July, Mrs. Ip expressed "cautious optimism" that Hong Kong could achieve universal suffrage in 2012. She also highlighted the "debilitating disconnect" between the executive and legislative branches of government and recommended amending the Basic Law to restore the link between the two. Mrs. Ip has yet to make any commitment on her next move, but she has given her backing to Donald Tsang's bid for a second term as chief executive.

The chief executive made his personal response to the July 1 march by acknowledging the conclusions of a report on constitutional development compiled by a taskforce he headed in 2004, which affirmed that most people in Hong Kong want universal suffrage. However, he rebutted critics by asserting that the government has never avoided the issue and that the publication of the constitutional development blueprint last year was an effort to build a consensus on universal suffrage—an effort, however, that was rejected by the legislature. While defending his record, he challenged pro-democracy politicians to formulate concrete proposals rather than rely on political slogans to promote universal suffrage.

What are the major hurdles for Hong Kong's democratisation? The first impediment is the Chinese government's suspicion of the people of Hong Kong. Beijing worries that once Hong Kong gains universal suffrage the people of Hong Kong might seek independence or create social instability on the mainland and eventually reawaken the revolt against one-party rule in China.

Another hurdle is the objection of the local business community. The business sector has been a major beneficiary of the existing system. Under the present political arrangement, they do not have to spend money for election campaigns in order to gain power from the government. Thus, in their eyes, why should the system be drastically altered?

In addition to the above external hurdles for Hong Kong's democracy, there is another obstacle—the politics of the elites. As we reflect on the democratic movement in the past 30 years, it is quite clear that Hong Kong's politics has been predominantly led by an elitist class—bankers, lawyers, academics, accountants, doctors, senior civil servants, etc.

This development is not new to Hong Kong though as it is rooted in the approach of the British colonial government which provided opportunities for local professional elites to participate in politics as civil servants or appointed Executive Council members or appointed legislators. With the introduction of functional constituencies in the legislature, more professional elites were attracted to policymaking and took part in electoral politics. The consequence of such a system is that it primarily generates policies to meet the self-interest of the elites' own professional sectors at the expense at times of the common good of society as a whole.

As we observe Mrs. Chan and Mrs. Ip's recent campaigns, both of them offer good illustrations of Hong Kong's elite politics. Although they have never been directly involved in Hong Kong's social and democratic movements, they claim that they will lead Hong Kong toward achieving universal suffrage by forming either a core group or a think-tank that will map out a concrete proposal to attain universal suffrage without prior consultations with Hong Kong's people. Such an approach again demonstrates a top-down model of elitist politics in which the elites claim to have the best solutions. The people are seen as just objects of the movement or as bystanders. Unless the people are respected as active participants in the process, when these elite politicians usher in universal suffrage one day, Hong Kong's democracy will still remain a political system of, for and by the elites.

How then can the people of Hong Kong be encouraged to play an active role to achieve universal suffrage? One answer, of course, is to change the system. Before we can change the system, however, we must nurture a democratic culture in which the people are the subjects of democracy. Here "the people" refers to the poorest and largest body of citizens. Because the word democracy means "the people (demos) have the power (kratia)," to advocate for universal suffrage, we cannot rely solely on one or two elitist leaders, such as Mrs. Chan or Mrs Ip. We should break the politics of elites and mobilise the people to move to the centre of the movement. I believe that, when the people move, the government will eventually have to move with them.