China has once again unsettled the trouble-torn island of Hong Kong. Despite the threat of Covid-19 pandemic, millions of HongKongers have braved their way to join in the massive anti-Government rallies in various parts of the city. This is not the first time the islanders have vowed to stand against the mainland legislations, threats and at times violent forces, but many youngsters say that protest against oppression is in “their DNA”. This all make it clear that Hong Kong has become a permanent Achilles heel for the power elite in China.
At this moment, it is worth recounting the historical background of the island and how Chinese rule has become a sore point for the freedom-loving HongKongers. Hong Kong was a British colony from January 26, 1841 till July 1, 1997. Its first Constitution, long before the coming of the current Basic Law, was proclaimed on June 26, 1843, in the form of Queen Victoria’s Letters Patent entitled the Charter of the Colony of Hong Kong. This 1843 Charter authorised the establishment of the Legislative Council and eventually empowered “the Governor for the time being… with the advice of the said Legislative Council… to make and enact all such laws and ordinances as may from time to time be required for the peace, order and good government of Hong Kong”. The Letters Patent of 1888 replaced the Charter of 1843 and added two significant words i.e. “and consent” after the words “with the advice”. After more than 150 years of British colonial rule, Hong Kong was handed over to the Chinese Government on July 1, 1997 as a part of the agreement signed between then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang on December 19, 1984. And this historic Sino-British Joint Declaration that put an end to one of the richest colonial treasures of the UK in Asia precisely brought home a new “Basic Law” to guide the future governance system of Hong Kong. In fact, this Basic Law could rightly be regarded as the “Mini Constitution” of Hong Kong. It must be noted here that this law was passed by the Chinese parliament known as the National People’s Congress (NPC), which came into effect on the very day of withdrawal of the British colonial regime over the island i.e. July 1, 1997. Interestingly, it was passed by the NPC as the provisions entailed in the Article 31 of the Constitution of China to establish Hong Kong as a Special Administrative Region (SAR). This is how Hong Kong was later known as the HKSAR in the lexicon of global politics. Today, Hong Kong is ruled by a Chief Executive known as Carrie Lam and a Legislature (Legco).
What brings constant anxiety to the Hong Kong residents is the intervention of Beijing in the very autonomous structure guaranteed to it by the Chinese Constitution itself in the form of Basic Law. And this law is absolutely inviolable and has to be in place for 50 years i.e. up till 2047, from the very date of the handover in 1997. The crux of the Basic Law is that it provides a system of “One Country, Two Systems” very unique which has never ever been practised by the authoritarian leadership of the mainland China. This refers to the idea that Hong Kong would enjoy a high degree of autonomy with executive, legislative and independent judicial power. Especially, the Article 5 of the Basic Law requires that the socialist system and policies practised in the mainland, not to be practiced in the autonomous region of Hong Kong and the existing capitalist system and the way of life before the transfer of the territory to China would continue for coming half a century from 1997.
Although the HongKongers were absolutely apprehensive of the hidden agenda of the Communists of China, they were gradually coping with their new future under the “One Country, Two Systems” till mid-June 2014. But by June 10, 2014, the Xi regime issued a new policy report asserting its authority over the island territory. This virtually created panic among the Hong Kong citizens. This report directly indicated that the interests of China must prevail over the constitutional autonomy of the HKSAR. This ignited furour across the island and massive protest rallies were organised against the secret agenda of the Xi and Co. Certainly, with Xi, the hate and anguish of the people of Hong Kong against the Chinese Government are on the rise.
What HongKongers are mainly aiming at? The current and the latest bone of contention are two sets of legislations: One that is a Bill approved by the NPC for a controversial Hong Kong National Security Law (NSL). This Bill rightly threatens to limit freedoms already enjoyed by the people in this international financial hub. Further, such legislations will bypass the city’s legislature. Its aim is to punish those acts which subvert the power of the Chinese Government and the State. And the other Bill that was passed by the Legco amid these protests is what makes it illegal to insult the “March of the Volunteers” i.e. the Chinese National Anthem. And anyone found guilty of abusing the anthem would face up to three years in prison and a fine of up to 50,000 Hong Kong Dollars ($6,450). The critics of the anthem Bill say it is an infringement of the right to free expression that the people of HKSAR enjoy, but the pro-Beijing majority says such a step is in the need of the hour for the HongKongers to display appropriate respect for the National Anthem.
What marks the latest round of protests particular is that the protesters quietly celebrating the anniversary of historic anti-Government protest that rocked the former British colony last June. In Hong Kong, don’t mistake a “blue flag” for anything else, but only for a police warning to “an illegal assembly”. And this June, the city police and thousands of plain-clothed security agents constantly waved the blue flags emblematic of recurring law and order situation in the city.
On the occasion of first year of anti-Government stir, Lam publicly aired that Hong Kong can’t bear any more chaos. More than a million people came out to the streets on June 9 last year to protest against a Bill that would have allowed people to be extradited to the mainland, where the courts are no other than the organs of the Communist Party of China. To smooth HongKongers’ ruffled feathers, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang reiterated the ‘One Country Two Systems’ is China’s national policy and there is no question of abandoning it any time soon.
Why then the HongKongers are on the road again? Why the city administration of Carry Lam is not giving audience to the leadership of the movement? Is the Xi regime has any plan to rein in the protesters the way it unleashed brutality in Tiananmen Square on June 1989? What course of action the international community should follow? These are quite tricky questions for anyone involved in this long haul, starting from the rally goers to the Lam administration to hardened Communists of the mainland. For the islanders, they have made it plain and simple to Beijing that they would love to continue with the autonomy guaranteed under the historic Basic Law of July 1, 1997 when the UK handed over the territory to the Chinese Government. Lam will not oblige the protesters simply because she can’t go against her bosses sitting in Beijing. She is helpless and fully tied to what Xi and his team dictates. She is a survivor, so to say. Though Xi and his Government are regularly indicating the use of force and not to tolerate any attempt to violate internal peace and order within its territory, but he won’t be able to do what Deng did on Tiananmen protesters in 1989. Today, for such actions, China would lose much more than what it did three decades earlier. The right course of action for the global community would be to pressure and impose sanctions on China to restore the constitutional autonomy of Hong Kong till 2047. Xi should not be in a hurry. He should not make it a part of grand “China Dream” and the “Belt and Road Initiative”.
Beijing’s proposed new laws, the dictatorial posture of Xi and the Lam administration’s subservience have altogether pushed the people of Hong Kong to the wall under China. Currently what has been observed is that a lot many elders are fast taking sides with their young brethren. And for the West, Hong Kong is the only ray of hope, the springboard and the pedestal from where it could probably challenge the diktats of the mainland’s Communist empire. However, resorting to these legislations as scalpel against the pro-democracy activists would neither help Xi or any future Chinese leader, nor would permanently quell the rebelling islanders. Hong Kong’s yearning for independence or autonomy is not to be viewed as an immediate problem. It is not an optional catastrophe for China. The PRC and its leadership have to deal with it as long as Hong Kong is within it. Let us make it clear to Xi that the pro-democracy struggle in this part is not an unfounded fear. It has grown over decades of the Hongkongers’ constant association and churning with the ethos of liberal democratic credentials for decades. Simply playing cat & mouse with the next generation of youngsters would push the island territory to another “boiling point of Asia”.
(The writer is an expert on international affairs)
