HONG KONG, 22 August 2003 — Mainland authorities appear to be on a collision course with local political forces eager for greater democracy and opposed to a swift implementation of a controversial anti-subversion law.
A local public opinion survey released on Tuesday showed that those opposing swift passage of the draft law had vaulted to the top of a list of Hong Kong’s most popular legislators while the popularity of pro-Beijing lawmakers plummeted.
Independent lawmaker Audrey Eu, who helped organize the massive July 1st anti-government protest, suddenly found herself atop the top-ten list with a 65 percent approval rating. She failed to make earlier lists. Liberal Party leader James Tien, whose threat to vote against the bill forced its withdrawal from the legislature last month, rose from seventh to third place with a 61 percent approval. Pro-Beijing politician Jasper Tsang watched his approval rating sink from 52 percent to 43percent.
The day before the survey was announced, a toughly-worded commentary in Beijing’s official mouthpiece, China Daily, attacked two other Hong Kong pro-democracy legislators, accusing them of promoting the region’s independence during a political conference in Taiwan last weekend.
“In view of this development, the national security law must be enacted and it must be as soon as possible,’’ concluded the commentary, signed by an apparently fictitious author called Xiao Ping. The lawmakers, Frontier Party leader Emily Lau and Democrat James To, advocate political reform, but both denied calling for independence.
The commentary followed remarks two weeks ago by Zou Zekei, the deputy director of Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong, who likened Hong Kong’s anti-government protests to the Cultural Revolution — China’s often-violent, decade-long political nightmare that ended in 1976. Those comments upset Hong Kong’s political opposition, buoyed not just about the size of July’s anti-government demonstrations, but also by the peaceful nature. Beijing’s verbal attacks on pro-democracy political figures run counter to its broader, more measured, response to the recent outpouring of anti-government sentiments in Hong Kong. That response has included a package aimed at easing economic hardship in a region beset with record-high unemployment, deflation and sinking property values.
It is all a far cry from the talk of greater growth made six years ago when the former British colony returned to Chinese sovereignty as a partly autonomous administrative region under a formula known as one-country, two-systems.
One of the stimulus measures — a phased easing of access to Hong Kong by mainland citizens — began Wednesday when residents of three cities in southern Guangdong Province were allowed to visit for the first time as individuals, rather than as part of state-sponsored tour groups.
Beijing’s tough line against pro-democracy politicians appears to reflect an assessment that Hong Kong’s discontent is driven mainly by economic hardship that have been exploited by political opponents.
While some analysts in the region share this view, others believe dissatisfaction with Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa and the lack of government accountability are powerful issues on their own. Attacking advocates of change could backfire, they predict.
