China this month celebrated the 20th anniversary of regaining control of Hong Kong. Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) visited the former British colony to commemorate the takeover.
However, many Hong Kongers lament rather than praise Beijing’s control.
The territory never governed itself. Grabbed by Great Britain from imperial China, most of Hong Kong (the “New Territories”) was on a 99-year lease. When the agreement’s expiration approached, a less-dominant Britain negotiated with a rising People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong was born.
It was to retain “a high degree of autonomy” — including its residents’ Western-style liberties — through 2047, after which the territory would fully revert to China.
Nervous residents doubted Beijing’s word.
However, one Hong Konger who feared the transition told me he could not think of anything that he could do that the new regime prevented him from doing.
However, this era might be coming to an end as Xi’s campaign against liberal freedoms and Western thinking intensifies.
Three years ago, Beijing announced its new election plan: all Hong Kong residents could vote, but only for nominees chosen by a committee controlled by PRC partisans.
This ruling triggered the “Umbrella movement,” in which demonstrators, mostly young, demanded free elections. The government finally dispersed the protesters and arrested the leaders after 79 days.
In 2015, the PRC apparently kidnapped or detained five men who worked for a publishing company or its bookstore that produced books banned in China.
Earlier this year, Xiao Jianhua (肖建華), a Chinese-born billionaire with Canadian citizenship, was apparently taken from his Hong Kong apartment by Chinese security agents.
Before last fall’s Legislative Council elections, the government disqualified six “localist” candidates who election officials deemed to harbor pro-independence sentiments. Nevertheless, several pro-democracy candidates, including Yau Wai-ching (游蕙禎) and Sixtus “Baggio” Leung (梁頌恆), won.
The latter two added “Hong Kong nation” to their oaths and Leung uttered an obscenity against China. Their oaths were rejected and a government suit was set in motion to prevent them from taking their seats.
The Hong Kong government then challenged the seating of four other lawmakers who had protested Beijing’s control in other ways.
The attacks on Hong Kong’s autonomy triggered new protests.
The PRC holds little allure for many young Hong Kongers. Only 3 percent of 18-to-29-year-olds view themselves as Chinese, down from 32 percent at the time of the handover — 94 percent now say they are Hong Kongers.
Since the handover, nearly 1 million Chinese have moved to Hong Kong. Many of them are Chinese students who stay after they graduate.
Contrary to the fears of some, migrants have not brought communist orthodoxy to the territory. Rather, most immigrants enjoy their new liberties.
Despite its political struggles, Hong Kong still tops annual international rankings of economic openness, such as the Fraser Institute’s Economic Freedom of the World and Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom.
However, political discontent could grow.
For China, the territory has become a source of dissent, even treason, and potential disorder.
At the same time, Hong Kong commercially matters far less to a nation that has fully engaged the world, so Beijing is setting up “red lines.”
“Any attempt to endanger China’s sovereignty and security, challenge the power of the central government and the authority of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, or use Hong Kong for infiltration or sabotage activities against the mainland, is an act that crosses the ‘red line’ and is absolutely impermissible,” Xi said.
He left no doubt as to the basis of his government’s authority when he visited the Chinese People’s Liberation Army garrison in Hong Kong.
A few hours after Xi flew home, tens of thousands of Hong Kong residents marched for democracy. Hong Kongers must remain vigilant, but they also must exercise wisdom. Unfortunately, pursuing radical but unattainable ends risks the survival of today’s freedoms. Especially since Hong Kong fights alone.
The struggle for Hong Kong’s future will continue. Much depends on China’s forbearance.
However, the future depends even more on the people of Hong Kong. They must defend their basic freedoms while tempering their passion with prudence.
Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and was a special assistant to former US president Ronald Reagan.
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