An anniversary not worth celebrating

The fourth anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China came and went quietly on Sunday. Not that there was much to celebrate, but it is unlike China to pass up a golden opportunity to exalt Chinese nationalism and unification through extravagant and tasteless ceremonies. Many are speculating that the honeymoon between Beijing and Hong Kong is officially over. If that is the case, the once confident and brassy Hong Kong is likely to go downhill at an even faster rate in the days to come.

Over the past four years, Hong Kong's autonomy and freedoms have been severely eroded. On the eve of this year's handover anniversary, the Hong Kong Journalists Association released a report criticizing the decay of freedoms and autonomy.

Four years under Chinese rule have also taken their toll on the people of Hong Kong. An survey published last Saturday by the University of Hong Kong found that 68 percent of people in the territory believe it is worse off under Chinese rule than it was as a colony and that 60 percent of people were not proud of becoming Chinese citizens, compared to 45 percent just before the handover.

The signs of Hong Kong's debasement are clear for all to see. Chief executive Tung Chee-hwa (董建華) has frequently caved into China's pressure instead of standing up for his people. The last example of this cowardice is his open parroting of Beijing's line that the Falun Gong (法輪功) is an "evil cult" as his government talks about the need for anti-cult legislation.

The temper tantrum staged by China's President Jiang Zemin (江澤民) against Hong Kong media in Beijing is another example. The journalists' crime was to have tried to ask him questions -- imagine that. Jiang was not the only senior Chinese official to have openly pressured the territory's media. Even before the handover, Beijing was warning journalists to refrain from reporting on moves for independence in Taiwan. It is therefore no coincidence that Hong Kong broadcasters now refer to President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) as the "Taiwan leadership," while the amount of stories about Taiwan are reduced.

Meanwhile, the territory's once-vaunted judiciary has been hamstrung by the government's willingness to seek input from and defer to Beijing on controversial issues.

On the economic side, the outlook for Hong Kong is bleak. China is intensifying its efforts to develop Shanghai so it can replace Hong Kong as the "pearl of the orient." The newly-erected Oriental Pearl TV Tower (東方明珠塔) by the Haungpu River (黃埔江) is a hallmark to Shanghai's rebirth.

However, Shanghai can't really replace Hong Kong because it lacks a deep-water seaport, the free flow of information and an English-language culture. Nevertheless, many Japanese and British businesses have moved from Hong Kong to Shanghai. Part of the reason for this exodus is the stranglehold over Hong Kong's economy of an oligarchy of businessmen such as Li Ka Shing (李嘉誠) who are loyal cronies of the Beijing leadership.

The territory's government seems unable to cope. Democratic Alliance chairman Tsang Yok Sing (曾鈺成) has complained that all promises by the government to develop the technology and tourism industries have proven to be just empty words. Hong Kong's ranking as a business environment also dropped from third to 12th place in this year's annual report by the Economist Intelligence Unit on business environments worldwide.