People power's guiding light

Often described as “Hong Kong's conscience'', Anson Chan, the former chief secretary and now a member of the Legislative Council (LegCo) is crusading for democracy in her country.

Hong Kong has been a special administrative region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China since the British transferred powers in 1997, ending 152 years of colonial rule.

Chan was the last chief secretary of British-ruled Hong Kong and continued to serve as head of its civil service for some years after the handover. She, however, quit the job following disagreements with the Beijing-appointed chief executive for Hong Kong.

Chan's election to the LegCo — in December 2007, seven years after leaving the government — was significant for Hong Kong's movement for democracy in many ways.

She defeated the powerful Regina Ip, best known for pushing the harshly draconian Article 23 of the anti-subversion law in 2003 while she was the SAR's attorney-general.

Chan's victory was all the more remarkable because she won the seat formerly held by Ma Lik, a politician who denied the Tiananmen Square massacres and wanted universal suffrage, if at all, not before 2020.

Under Beijing's eye of distrust

Born in Shanghai and educated in Hong Kong and at Tufts University, the 67-year-old Chan has been witness to the erosion of democratic values and ideals in Hong Kong, where Beijing is tightening its grip.

China's National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) rejected the pro-democracy camp's call for full universal suffrage in 2012 and said it might be held in 2017, followed by a full LegCo council election in 2020.

Besides worrying that no details have been released about Hong Kong's governance after July 2047, when the “one country, two systems'' arrangement is to end — after the 50-year guarantee in Hong Kong's Basic Law — pan-democrats doubt if elections will be held at all, given China's fears that universal suffrage in Hong Kong would also raise calls for free and fair elections in mainland China.

Indeed, Chan's pro-democracy views make her suspect in the eyes of the Beijing regime which shows a grudging respect for her.

Recently, Chan delivered a lecture on the future of democracy in Hong Kong at the Asia Society, New York.

“I am not sure if I am loved by all sides, though I would like more to love me or, at least, like me,'' she said, apparently referring to Beijing's distrust of her.

Eloquent and soft-spoken, Chan tackled sensitive issues and even gently chided Hong Kong's business community, which fears that the one-man-one-vote demand could convert Hong Kong into a welfare state.

“Businesspeople have a short focus and as long as their interests are served, they don't mind playing along. However, if we do not take steps to establish democracy, we may one day find we have lost it,'' she said.

While she was encouraged by last December's election — “it confirmed Hong Kong's interest in having universal suffrage'' — she also discerned an element of uncertainty in China's response on whether Hong Kong may have popular elections in 2017 and the LegCo election in 2020.

“I am worried by the word ‘may' and also the long time one has to wait for democracy. Even Bhutan is a democracy now!'' she said.

“However, I like to look at the positive side. Between now and 2017 anything can happen. Maybe by then China may have confidence in Hong Kong and realise that, as part of China, [it] depends on rapid integration with China and can be trusted.

"Hong Kong's people are down to earth, loyal, pragmatic … we have to work extremely hard for universal suffrage,'' she told Weekend Review.

Chan also lamented that there was no clear consensus on universal suffrage. “For me, there's only one definition of universal suffrage as enshrined in our Basic Law. Every citizen has the right to elect and get elected.

"There is now talk about ‘functional constituency', which is not representative of Hong Kong. Some people have no vote, while others have one or two votes. It is not compatible with our Basic Law,'' she said.

Hong Kong's Basic Law, the China-granted equivalent of a constitution, provides for “gradual and orderly'' progress towards the goal of universal suffrage but specifies neither a timetable nor methodology.

At the time of the 1997 handover, Hong Kong citizens hoped democratic elections would be held in 2007, a call rejected in April 2004 by the NPCSC, which functions as the Basic Law's final interpreter.

At present, the chief executive is chosen by a special committee of 800 members handpicked by Beijing; the majority of LegCo members are not directly elected.

Half of the 60 seats in the present LegCo are filled by members from “functional constituencies'' [teachers, small businessmen, corporate executives, tradesmen, etc.).

Each forms a constituency and elects a representative. The process looks democratic externally but a majority of these constituencies are small and easily manipulated.

The functional constituency model was developed by Mussolini in the early 1920s to dominate the Italian parliament.

The British implanted it in Hong Kong to keep the public divided and Beijing uses it for the same purpose now.

For good governance

Chan called for a stronger and “genuine'' leadership that would not merely go through the motions of so-called consultations and give a dressing as people's voting, complying with the Basic Law.

“I am also worried by our chief executive [Donald Tsang], who says he is responsible only until his term of office lasts and not for the period thereafter. So what happens in 2012 [when he retires]?'' she asked.

Referring to her exit from the government job, Chan said: “I left the civil service because as chief secretary I could no longer support the practice of appointing political appointees without accountability.

Some 30 top positions in Hong Kong's civil service were single-handedly given by the CEO. You risk surrounding yourself with ‘yes-men and yes-women','' she said.

While emphasising that she was not seeking confrontation, she said Beijing needs to be told that democracy will be good for Hong Kong and will ensure good governance with checks and balances, without which a government becomes less and less transparent.

“The present government is not addressing these concerns. My desire is to ensure that we have a fair, equitable and effective government.''

Developments in Hong Kong are also being closely monitored by Taiwan, where even pro-China politicians were not pleased with the NPCSC's decision to postpone universal suffrage; they interpreted this decision by China as its unwillingness to allow genuine democracy.

This could dissuade Taiwan's people from accepting China's “one country, two systems'' formula, which China is using as a bait to attract Taiwan to join the “motherland''.

“Many Hong Kong people visited Taiwan to observe the recent elections and were very impressed by the fervour and passion of the Taiwanese people for the elections,'' Chan said.

Manik Mehta is a commentator on Asian Affairs.