Following in Taiwan's footsteps, Hong Kong in recent years has been struggling to become more democratic. Tomorrow's Legisla-tive Council elections are seen by many as a critical point in Hong Kong's democratic process. Democracy will have taken a step forward if the Democrats win a majority on the council.
Though some consider Tai-wan's democratization to be a role model for Hong Kong, people there have a more conservative outlook.
Paul Lin (林保華), also known as Linfeng (凌峰), writes commentaries for newspapers in Taiwan and Hong Kong (including the Taipei Times). Lin said it will be difficult for Hong Kong to democratize.
"Democracy in Hong Kong depends on China. If mainland officials think democracy will destroy the territory's stability and economy, they will keep postponing the schedule for Hong Kong's political reform," he said.
Having observed Taiwan and Hong Kong for more than 20 years, Lin sees a very close relationship between the two.
Role Model
"As long as Taiwan remains a threat to China, the Chinese government will treat Hong Kong better. That is because mainland officials see Hong Kong's `one country, two systems' as a role model for Taiwan," Lin said.
But Legislative Council member Emily Lau (劉惠卿) said the model has not impressed Taiwan.
"I guessed they [the Tai-wanese] have never believed in it. They have not believed in it since the 1980s," she said.
Pu Ta-chung (卜大中), chief writer at the Apple Daily, the only newspaper in this country run by Hong Kongers, said there is a lack of understanding between the people of Hong Kong and Taiwan.
"Taiwanese take pleasure in Hong Kong's misfortunes, and Hong Kongers do the same with Taiwan. The relationship between the two is very unhealthy," Pu said.
This is due to few people in Hong Kong being sympathetic to Taiwan's isolation in the face of China's bullying, he said.
Given the number of people traveling between Hong Kong and Taiwan -- and the number of expatriates in both places, there ought to be a closer relationship between the two.
According to the statistics from the Mainland Affairs Coun-cil's Department of Hong Kong and Macau Affairs, there are 37,000 Hong Kongers residing in Taiwan, while the number of Taiwanese in the territory is around 40,000. The number of tourists from Hong Kong reached 240,000 last year and a growing number of such tourists are young people.
Almost all those interviewed for this article, however, felt that Hong Kongers and Taiwanese do not care about each other.
Indifference
"Taiwan does not care about Hong Kong and vice versa. First, there is the language problem and, second, the two governments do not allow any communication between their officials. Hong Kong people know Taiwan is a dreaded topic to China's central government, and so try to avoid if possible," Lau said.
Pu feels there is a growing dislike between the two peoples.
"Whenever Taiwanese see Hong Kong being oppressed by China -- for example, the attempt to enact Article 23 of the Basic Law or China's denial of the Hong Kong people's call for direct elections -- they feel happy. At the same time, when Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was elected president, many Hong Kong people criticized the Taiwanese in order to please China."
He said that whenever Hong Kong and China "speak the same language," the Taiwanese hate Hong Kong.
According to Pu, after China took over Hong Kong, "Taiwan consciousness" increased, and the relationship between China and Taiwan became more intense. He said the impression among the Taiwanese that few Hong Kong democrats are sympathetic to Taiwan is the major reason for the dislike of Hong Kong.
He said the indifference toward Hong Kong grew after the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) rose to power.
"Because the government is indifferent to Hong Kong, there is less media coverage of Hong Kong and the people become more indifferent to the place," he said.
Benjamin Wu, a Taiwanese who works in advertising and worked in Hong Kong for a year and a half, said the two peoples are indifferent to one other.
"Hong Kong people know about Chen Shui-bian and [Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman] Lien Chan (連戰), but they don't actually know about their political backgrounds. Tai-wanese only know who [Hong Kong Chief Executive] Tung Chee-hwa (董建華) is," Wu said.
Wu said that since Taiwanese are not sentimentally attached to the territory, and Hong Kongers are politically apathetic, the Tai-wanese do not expect people in the territory to care about Taiwan.
In his eyes, Hong Kong is simply a threshold to China.
Similarities and Differences
Wu, however, thinks Hong Kong people are practical and realistic.
"They like to talk about superficial topics, like celebrities and real estate," he said.
While Taiwanese think people in the territory are preoccupied with economics, Hong Kongers believe that the Taiwanese are too political.
"The Taiwanese are so polarized when they talk about politics. They are almost fanatical. Just turn on the TV and you can see political shows every night," said Paul Cheung (張沖), a restaurant owner who moved from Hong Kong to Taiwan 30 years ago.
"This is not a good sign when politics become a mass move-ment. Taiwan should focus on economic development, especially as its economy hasn't fully recovered. Talking too much about politics only serves to isolate Taiwan from the rest of the world," Cheng said.
However, he feels there are similarities between Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Pu said both places are former colonies and do not have their own culture.
"The two places are similar in this respect. In face of that, Taiwan and Hong Kong lack mutual support." Pu said.
More Communication Needed
Lin thinks Taiwan and Hong Kong should support each other -- and learn from one another.
"Taiwan is more advanced in democracy than Hong Kong. Whether the voting system is good or not, whether there will be any fights during the process, these are still experiences that Taiwan can have," Lin said.
"This is what Hong Kongers cannot understand," he said.
Taiwan's judicial system, however, is not as good as Hong Kong's, he said, noting that people here frequently make malicious attacks while people in the territory don't dare because they could be sued for slander.
"Hong Kongers know exactly what they can and cannot do. The judicial spirit in Hong Kong is much better than in Taiwan, and better developed too," Lin said.
Chang Yung-shan (張永山), director of MAC's Department of Hong Kong and Macau Affairs, would like to see the two places learn more from one another.
"Taiwan has made the best effort to preserve Chinese culture, while Hong Kong is a mixture of Chinese and Western culture," Chang said.
"Hong Kong should learn from Taiwan how to preserve the culture of a family society," Chang said.
"Being a financial center, Hong Kong is full of talented people who are used to the Western idea of obeying the law. However, they are also filled with the Western spirit of utilitarianism, and lack the Chinese touch of humanity," Chang said. "The two places should supplement each other."
Noting that Taiwan is Hong Kong's fourth-largest economic partner, he said the two should share more cultural exchanges.
"They should maintain a relationship of competition and cooperation," he said.
Cheung also thinks there should be more exchanges.
"Sometimes the people in two places are too extreme. Hong Kongers are too pragmatic and the Taiwanese are too fanatic. They could neutralize the excessiveness of one another," he said.
"People from Hong Kong, Taiwan and mainland China are all Chinese -- why do the governments always complicate things by making a simple question political? The cross-strait enmity puts too much pressure on the common people" Cheung said, echoing the opinion of many people in Hong Kong.
"Though Taiwan and Hong Kong have different cultures and viewpoints due to their different colonial histories, I hope that we can step away from the restrictions to become free Chinese. Then maybe two places can grower closer for the next generation," Cheung said.
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