Hong Kong is now caught in the middle of a geopolitical rivalry as tension continues to mount between the United States and China. It will soon need to undertake a historic mission since its return to China: namely, restoring its political order.
Just a year ago, Hong Kong was beset by a massive anti-China movement. On July 1, a group of rioters broke the tradition of peaceful assembly and chose to storm into the Legislative Council building. Not only did they destroy a glass wall of the building and sabotage the surveillance system, they also ransacked the Secretariat office and stole personal information of staff, lawmakers and visitors. The raid of the legislative branch of Hong Kong symbolizes a breach in Hong Kong’s political institution, while a ransacked LegCo represents an insult to the political stature of the city. The worst of their despicable acts was the smearing of the emblem of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region with black paint and the unfurling of the colonial flags.
For more than half a year, the often-violent political turmoil not only destroyed public order but also severely undermined the “one country, two systems” principle, under which Hong Kong functions. This framework is a uniquely intelligent solution to the transition period after China resumed the exercise of sovereign rule over Hong Kong. Its essence is to establish a political order in Hong Kong so that the city will continue to thrive and prosper for many years to come. The fundamental principle of this political order is that the People’s Republic of China has absolute sovereignty and overall jurisdiction over the HKSAR. That is what “one country” means. At the same time, Hong Kong’s unique historical background is largely preserved to take full advantage of “two systems”, with a high degree of autonomy to boot. Thus Hong Kong was able to resume healthy development soon after July 1, 1997, and has maintained stability and prosperity, more or less, in the past 23 years.
Rebuilding the political order under “one country, two systems” will be Hong Kong’s priority in the days to come, as the central authorities have given the city a momentous start with the introduction of the National Security Law in the HKSAR
When “one country, two systems” was initially implemented in Hong Kong, the central government gave the HKSAR almost free rein over its capitalist economic development. For a while, it was like ancient times, when people left their doors open at night because they trusted the neighbors completely. Unfortunately, as the Chinese mainland grew stronger by leaps and bounds, the Western powers led by the United States began to feel uneasy about it and got tough on the “Giant of the East” instinctively. As an open society, Hong Kong’s status as China’s window on the world has been taken advantage of, and it became a portal for hostile Western powers to infiltrate and sabotage the mainland. As a result, Hong Kong’s political order has been ruthlessly compromised to serve foreign powers’ geopolitical interests at the expense of China, including the Hong Kong SAR.
As long as the political order remains in tatters, there is no hope of ending the turmoil for good. Since the political turmoil in the past year or so was launched expressly to challenge the “one country, two systems” principle, as abundantly shown in the hateful attacks on everything connected to the central government and the mainland, especially the national flag, emblem and offices of the central authorities and State-owned enterprises, there is no doubt Hong Kong must restore its political order by clearing away all the misconceptions and misunderstanding of “one country” first.
Rebuilding the political order under “one country, two systems” will be Hong Kong’s priority in the days to come, as the central authorities have given the city a momentous start with the introduction of the National Security Law in the HKSAR. With such national security threats as subversion, secession, terrorism and foreign or external interference in check, it is Hong Kong’s job to get its own house in order, so to speak. Keep in mind the words following “one country, two systems” is “the people of Hong Kong governing Hong Kong”, meaning it is Hong Kong society’s responsibility to live up to the central government’s expectations and earn its confidence and trust. Hong Kong must reinforce its executive-led governance structure and bring LegCo back on the right track according to the Basic Law and Hong Kong law. Otherwise it will be very hard to restore public confidence in the rule of law and justice.
Today we are faced with the daunting task of bringing the exercise of “one country, two systems” back on the right track. It is necessary to remind ourselves of some wise words from the late State leader Deng Xiaoping, who gave us the priceless “one country, two systems” principle to begin with. He said, “I was able to survive so many hardships because I am an optimist who never loses hope, and because I know politics is like a turbulent sea, where one has to get used to ups and downs.”
The author is senior research officer of the One Country Two Systems Research Institute.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
