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China on July 04, 2004 Hong
Kong's ordeal under China By
the Liberty Times editorial This past Thursday was
the seventh anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China. Except for the usual
celebrations held by the government, no sense of joy could be detected in the
private sector. In fact, many residents held a demonstration to demand popular
election of Hong Kong's chief executive and the Legislative Council (Legco). On
the handover's anniversary there was only discontent among the people, and no
happiness, pride or hope. The historical development of Hong Kong is very ironic. Leftist scholars
use it as an example in criticizing the ruthless exploitation of other countries
by imperialism, blaming such exploitation for causing poverty and stagnation. In
1842, Hong Kong was ceded to Great Britain as a result of the Opium War. From
both the nationalist and leftist perspectives, this was a shameful page of
colonial history. However, this shameful page leads to an unexpected page of history. The
cession of Hong Kong helped it to avoid more than a century of wars in and
dictatorial rule by China. Influenced by the British emphasis on efficient
government management, respect for law and capitalism, Hong Kong flourished into
a prosperous free port and the financial center of East Asia. Even more ironic
is the fact that under the colonial rule of the British, Hong Kong was able to
efficiently utilize its human resources. While the people of Hong Kong were
under colonial rule, they had confidence and a sense of pride. However, after the handover to China, despite China's promises of "one
country, two systems" and that there would be no change of the status quo
for 50 years, Hong Kong's political condition took a turn for the worse. During
the first year of the handover, the Asian financial crisis traumatized Hong
Kong. A series of other disasters beset the former colony, ranging from typhoons
to the SARS epidemic, from the Internet economy's slump to avian flu. The inability of the Special Administrative Region's (SAR) government to
deal with these problems and its inability to win the people's support have
caused the economy to decline. The unemployment rate in Hong Kong went from 2.2
percent in 1997 to last year's 7.9 percent. In 1997, the average Hong Kong
resident's income was HK$270,000, but this fell to HK$179,000 last year. Some structural factors played key roles in the decline of Hong Kong's
economy, many of them the inevitable results of its absorption by China. After
Hong Kong integrated with China, the SAR's industries became more able to use
the mainland's cheaper labor, which caused an exodus of local industries,
leaving virtually no manufacturing industry in the SAR. Many blue-collar workers
lost their jobs. As for Hong Kong's service industries, they require only a
limited amount of manpower. Furthermore, in recent years China has poured in
massive amounts of capital and effort toward developing Shanghai in an attempt
to have it replace Hong Kong as the financial center of the region. Therefore,
even the service sector of Hong Kong is facing some very tough challenges. The
economies of Hong Kong and China have not supplemented each other. Instead, they
became wrapped up in a zero-sum competition. People who hold unrealistic dreams
about the "Greater China economy" should realize how wrong they have
been upon closely examining how Hong Kong's economy declined after its takeover
by China. The glorious accomplishments of Hong Kong in the past had much to do with
the fact that the colony had escaped Chinese rule until the handover. Under
British colonial rule, while democracy was not complete, at least there was rule
of law, an efficient government and a free market. After the handover, all of
these valuable assets were gone, replaced with Chinese-style corrupt and
incompetent bureaucracy and increasingly tight political control. Referring to
the course of its economic development, the Chinese government often boasts
about adopting a development model "with Chinese characteristics,"
which are vividly depicted as "open the economy, tighten politics"
that gives top priority to what the regime regards as "stability." The
emphasis is in pushing for economic development in the absence of political
reforms. In recent years, the rise of nationalism is another noteworthy
phenomenon. While Hong Kong had joined China as a SAR, it cannot escape from
these "Chinese characteristics " against a backdrop of rising
nationalism and tightened political controls. The major obstacles to Hong Kong's
primary demands for democracy -- such as the popular election of the chief
executive and Legco -- come from this totalitarian political culture and
nationalism. Against this backdrop of China's growing nationalism, Hong Kong's receipt
of special treatment as an SAR after its handover to China was considered by
many Chinese to be a rare blessing for which the people of Hong Kong should be
grateful. Under this logic, how dare the people of Hong Kong ask for more and
try to overturn socialism with democracy? So Hong Kong's advocates for democracy
are labeled by Chinese propaganda as "unpatriotic" and "lap dogs
of imperialism" incited by Western countries. The lifelines of the Chinese
regime are one-party totalitarianism and patriarchal thought. To maintain its
rule, the Chinese government could never comply with demands for democratic
reforms and relinquish the tools it uses to maintain power. For this reason,
"one country, two systems" is unbalanced toward the former. The
promise that there would be no change for 50 years became an excuse to refuse
reforms. The path to democracy has as a result become increasingly difficult for
Hong Kong. Chinese scholar Zhu Xueqin has said that nationalism is the most
dangerous force in modern Chinese history. The accuracy of this conclusion is
demonstrated by Hong Kong's experience since the handover. In 1997, Hong Kong
was already a highly developed society. Its strength came from its openness to
the world; it did well without any help from China, and its glory was
attributable to the world. Sadly, after 1997 it was compelled to turn to China,
receiving not rational political democracy but frenzied nationalism in return.
Therefore, it was no longer Hong Kong of the world, but Hong Kong of China. The
pearl of Orient has as a result fallen from grace, and lacks its former allure.
The reasons for this deserve our close examination. But as much as we may
sympathize with Hong Kong's situation, there is very little we can do to help
it. Taiwanese
awakening By
Mar Eng-chun As a human beings, we
should be thankful for what we to have. Today, the Taiwanese enjoy economic
prosperity and freedom. Do they know that freedom fighters sacrificed themselves
and their families to pave the way for democracy? For almost half a century, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) ruled under
martial law in Taiwan to oppress people. The KMT was so corrupt for such a long
time, up until the election of former president Lee Teng-hui . Lee is a man of
vision and he loves his people and homeland. His tireless efforts and wisdom
have made Taiwan a stable and prosperous nation in Asia. Although Lee proclaimed the doctrine of "No haste, be patient,"
many business tycoons have used Taiwanese money and resources to invest in China
without considering the well-being of the Taiwanese people. Nowadays, the
Taiwanese are labeled as people who love money and flattery, and fear dying.
Even several business tycoons forced President Chen Shui-bian to consider the
"three-links" policy. He has rejected the idea because it will
jeopardize Taiwan's stability. We should remember the "nine thoughtful
considerations" in Confucian teaching. One of them says to "be
righteous while seeking gain." Although Taiwan is a democratic nation, the March 2004 presidential
election showed there are still a large number of people who are irrational and
ignorant of the law. Taiwan should implement the moral codes used at the US
military academy West Point to educate Taiwanese people. Their credo is
"country, honor, and duty." Taiwan cannot afford to be a materially rich and culturally poor nation.
This is a wake-up call to the Taiwanese. Mar
Eng-chun
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