Hong Kong tomorrow is likely to select Beijing’s favored candidate for its next leader, who some say will further divide a territory where middle-class families have become increasingly disaffected by political tension and economic hardship.
The former British colony, governed under a “one country, two systems” arrangement, was promised a high degree of autonomy and the right to select its chief executive when it was handed over to Chinese rule in 1997, but tomorrow, 20 years later, only 1,200 people on an election committee stacked with Beijing loyalists are to vote for the next leader of the Asian financial hub which witnessed weeks of sometimes violent street protests in 2014 calling for universal suffrage.
Former top civil servant Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) is widely expected to win, thanks to Beijing’s backing.
Photo: Reuters
Former Hong Kong financial secretary John Tsang (曾俊華), more popular with the densely populated territory’s 7.3 million people, is expected to get about a quarter of the vote.
With Lam’s victory on the cards, some middle-class residents see the lack of democracy again fueling political division and fresh protests, leaving them powerless to tackle livelihood issues such as high property prices and rising inequality.
“The middle class are affected by several problems, the rule of law, governance, housing,” said Nick Chung, a 25-year-old working in the information technology sector. “I think it’s no longer a matter of helping the middle class alone. It’s a structural problem.”
Lam has spoken of unifying Hong Kong as one of her top priorities, but some expect her backing from Beijing to have the opposite effect.
Politicians and insiders say Beijing’s interference in the election has been unprecedented, violating constitutional safeguards of the territory’s autonomy.
Mark Pinkstone, a retired civil servant who campaigned for Regina Ip (葉劉淑儀), another former top official eyeing the top job who dropped out of the race, said many election committee members had received telephone calls and had face-to-face meetings with Chinese officials, who lobbied them to vote a certain way.
The Chinese “Central Liaison Office is running the show,” Pinkstone said.
Other politicians, including pro-China Michael Tien (田北辰), have complained publicly about Beijing’s “invisible hand.”
Hong Kong Liaison Office Director Zhang Xiaoming (張曉明), China’s main representative office in the territory, has dismissed accusations of electoral manipulation.
“You see the eventual demise of ‘one country, two systems,’ and if the current rate of deterioration continues ... it will rapidly become ‘one country, one system,’” former Hong Kong chief secretary Anson Chan (陳方安生) said.
The lack of economic opportunity and high costs are helping to fuel a disaffected younger generation clamoring in vain for greater democracy and a more equitable society, driving more talented Hong Kongers abroad.
“If I really want a better living standard, of course it needs to be overseas,” said Veronica Chung, a 22-year-old violin teacher. “When the housing price is so high ... it’s impossible to have a high living standard. You get back home from work and you’ll just be facing four walls. You can’t be happy.”
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