Observation analysis
Author: Ying Zhuo
2020-11-10 18:38
Last update date: 2020-11-10 18:38
"Hong Kong 01" reported exclusively yesterday (November 9) that the NPC Standing Committee meeting held today will add an agenda to set a constitutional framework that includes the "patriots ruling Hong Kong" standard, or lead to 4 pan-democratic members Disqualified.
In fact, the "14th Five-Year Plan and 2035 Long-Term Goals Proposals" released last Tuesday (November 3) have indicated that the central government will take "enhancing the national awareness and patriotism of Hong Kong and Macao compatriots" as one of the six major goals of governing Hong Kong. This is completely different from the "Thirteenth Five-Year" planning proposal. I believe it is definitely not a political rhetoric, and there will be greater actions in the future.
The separatist tendencies and actions that continue to emerge in Hong Kong society have forced Beijing to warn against excessive emphasis on "two systems" and ignorance of "one country."
(Xinhua News Agency)
In the past five years, Hong Kong’s nativism has become more and more prevalent. The riots in Mong Kok and the turmoil of amendments to the regulations have exposed Hong Kong’s weak national consciousness and major governance crisis. It is necessary for the central government to bring the chaos out.
The "14th Five-Year Plan and 2035 Proposals for Long-Term Goals" proposes to "enhance the national consciousness and patriotism of Hong Kong and Macao compatriots", which coincides with the increasing emphasis on "patriots ruling Hong Kong" in Beijing's Hong Kong governance system.
As early as July this year during the nomination period for the original legislative council general election, the Returning Officer successively disqualified 12 democratic representatives including Huang Zhifeng from running for the election. The Liaison Office of the Central Committee of Hong Kong issued a statement on July 30, citing the late top leader of the Chinese Communist Party. Deng Xiaoping’s strategy for governing Hong Kong emphasized that "Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong" must have boundaries and standards, that is, Hong Kong people from China with "patriots" as the main body must govern Hong Kong.
This is of special significance to the governance of the SAR. It means that after a series of local protests, Beijing's system of governing Hong Kong is regaining and strengthening the standard of "patriots governing Hong Kong" in the Deng Xiaoping era.
Beijing regains and strengthens patriots to rule Hong Kong
During the Sino-British negotiations, Beijing has formulated a strategy for governing Hong Kong under the framework of "one country, two systems."
When Deng Xiaoping met with visitors to Beijing from Hong Kong in June 1984, he said in his speech "One Country, Two Systems":
There is a boundary and standard for Hong Kong people to govern Hong Kong, that is, Hong Kong people with patriots as the main body must govern Hong Kong.
In the future, the main component of the Hong Kong SAR government is patriots. Of course, it has to accommodate other people. It can also hire foreigners as consultants.
-"One Country, Two Systems"
It can be seen that although the leaders of Beijing at that time focused on how to maintain a diversified and open Hong Kong under the framework of "one country, two systems" to maintain its uniqueness, they also defined the standard of "Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong."
Since then, "Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong with patriots as the main body" has become Beijing's established policy for governing Hong Kong, and the relevant policies have also been continued during the periods of Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao.
For example, on December 20, 2004, when Chinese President Hu Jintao delivered a speech at the celebration meeting for the 5th anniversary of Macao’s return, he mentioned that "we must insist on a comprehensive and accurate understanding and implementation of the "One Country, Two Systems" policy, adhere to the basic laws of the Special Administrative Region, and rule by law. Hong Kong and Macao are governed by law, and "Hong Kong people govern Hong Kong" with patriots as the main body."
However, since it was still in the early stage of the reunification, the relationship between mainland and Hong Kong was relatively harmonious, especially when the Chinese identity of Hong Kong people reached a historical high in 2008, prompting Beijing's Hong Kong governance system to less emphasize "patriots governing Hong Kong."
With the gradual disappearance of the honeymoon period of dry-port relations, a series of problems and deep-seated contradictions left over from the colonial period of Hong Kong and Britain began to emerge and highlight through the increasingly frequent social and economic exchanges between dry and Hong Kong, and social anti-China sentiment revived. The local separatist thoughts represented by "Hong Kong City-State" gradually emerged and spread. Many people overemphasized the "two systems" to resist "one country", which led to the disputes between the mainland and Hong Kong on the issue of Hong Kong's political reform, which forced Beijing to respond. The situation adjusts Hong Kong policy.
In 2014, the State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China published the white paper "The Practice of "One Country, Two Systems" in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region". It not only proposed for the first time the "Comprehensive Governance Power" that was not explicitly stated in the Basic Law, but was in line with the original intent, but also focused on comprehensive and accurate understanding and To implement the "One Country, Two Systems" policy, use a small chapter to discuss the insistence on "Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong" with patriots as the main body, reiterating that ""Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong" has boundaries and standards. This is what Deng Xiaoping emphasized must be based on patriotism. Hong Kong people who are the main body govern Hong Kong. Loyalty to the country is a basic political ethic that must be followed by political politicians."
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In 2017, the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China endorsed "Patriots ruling Hong Kong" again, emphasizing that "We adhere to the "Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong" and "Macao people ruling Macao" with patriots as the main body, develop and strengthen the power of patriotism, Hong Kong and Macao, and strengthen Hong Kong. The national consciousness and patriotism of the Macao compatriots.” However, because Hong Kong society is still not accustomed to the CCP language, it has not attracted much attention.
Until the outbreak of legislative amendments in Hong Kong in 2019, the shortcomings of Hong Kong governance in the past years were exposed. The resolution of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held in October of the same year no longer used the expression "Love the country and love Hong Kong", but directly changed to " "Patriots" govern Hong Kong, placing "one country" in a more prominent position, and integrating "love of Hong Kong" as a manifestation of "two systems" into the "patriots" of more "one country" meaning.
This does not mean that "love the country and love Hong Kong" will no longer be mentioned in the future, but that the "patriot" will be more prominent.
A dialectical understanding of "patriots ruling Hong Kong"
Under the framework of "one country, two systems," Hong Kong should follow "patriots ruling Hong Kong."
After all, under today’s world order based on sovereign states, sovereign states have patriotic demands on governors within their territorial jurisdiction. This is a fundamental political ethic that cannot be more legitimate. There is no distinction between China and the West, nor society. The difference between ism and capitalism.
Tracing back to the source, starting from the Deng Xiaoping era, "patriots governing Hong Kong" has been one of the basic requirements of Beijing's policy of governing Hong Kong. There have been regulations to follow in the Chinese Constitution and Hong Kong's Basic Law.
The preamble of Hong Kong's Basic Law mentioned that it was formulated under the principle of "one country, two systems" in order to maintain the unity and territorial integrity of the country and maintain the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong.
The Basic Law also stipulates that the Chief Executive, principal officials, members of the Executive Council, the President of the Legislative Council, and more than 80% of the members of the Legislative Council, the Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal and the High Court must be appointed by Hong Kong permanent residents who do not have the right of abode in foreign countries. A Chinese citizen among the residents.
When they take office, they must swear to support Hong Kong’s Basic Law and allegiance to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The chief executive of Hong Kong must also be responsible to Beijing and Hong Kong for the implementation of the Basic Law.
This not only reflects the need of national sovereignty, but also an inevitable requirement for the implementation of "one country", ensuring that those who govern Hong Kong are loyal to the country and Hong Kong, while accepting the supervision of Beijing and Hong Kong society.
Hong Kong’s "Basic Law" requires officials to govern Hong Kong as a Chinese citizen and the requirement that the Hong Kong Chief Executive be accountable to Beijing is a manifestation of the implementation of "one country."
The picture shows Carrie Lam being sworn in as Hong Kong's Chief Executive to Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2017.
(Reuters)
To this day, the reason why Beijing once again emphasized "patriots ruling Hong Kong" "in black and white" is obviously to warn Hong Kong's local forces and separatism. It must understand that "one country" is the prerequisite for "two systems" and the conditions for "Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong". It is "patriotic."
However, it also brings out two major thinking that Beijing must avoid regarding "patriots ruling Hong Kong."
The first is to rethink the standards of Patriots.
In the 1980s, Deng Xiaoping pointed out many times that "patriots" must "respect their own nation and sincerely support the motherland's restoration of sovereignty over Hong Kong, without jeopardizing Hong Kong's prosperity and stability."
This standard clearly shows that "patriotism" and "love Hong Kong" are not opposing options, but a unified whole.
However, because Deng Xiaoping’s statement is relatively abstract, specific circumstances need to be analyzed in the implementation process, and patriotism must be understood from an open and dialectical perspective.
For example, are those who are good at speculation while shouting patriotism and love Hong Kong are patriots?
Are those who truly support "one country, two systems" but have different opinions, are patriots?
For many years, Beijing did not seem to have a more convincing and rigorous definition of "patriot", so that many people took advantage of it and exploited loopholes, making Hong Kong people doubt Beijing's patriotic standards for governing Hong Kong.
Now that Beijing’s system of ruling Hong Kong is regaining and strengthening the “patriots ruling Hong Kong”, it is necessary to re-examine the past years of practice, grasp the definition of patriots, and strive to enhance the credibility of patriots ruling Hong Kong.
The second is to keep up with the times to update the meaning of patriots as the actual situation changes.
Before and after the return of Hong Kong, the primary task was to ensure a smooth transition for Hong Kong. The patriotism at that time naturally focused on supporting the country to resume the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong.
But today, 23 years after Hong Kong has returned, sovereignty is no longer a problem. The connotation of a patriot should naturally focus on what Deng Xiaoping said back then that "respect one's own nation" and "do not harm Hong Kong's prosperity and stability."
According to this standard, in July this year, the Liaison Office of the Hong Kong Central Committee supported the Returning Officer to cancel the qualifications of Huang Zhifeng and others to run for the Legislative Council.
It is foreseeable that this patriot's request for ruling Hong Kong should run through Hong Kong elections and the appointment and removal of senior officials.
In addition, the Basic Law stipulates that Hong Kong people with foreign abode rights can hold up to 20% of the seats in the Legislative Council. It may be necessary to re-examine its rationality.
Duowei News and Hong Kong 01 have advocated in recent years that Hong Kong "establish a Chinese Hong Kong citizenship system" and "expand the accountability system for senior officials", which is worthy of reference by the SAR government.
Due to historical reasons, those who hold foreign passports or who have left Hong Kong for a long time, as long as they have the right of abode in Hong Kong, can vote or even run for elections in Hong Kong and become Hong Kong rulers.
But just as all countries or regions are concerned, those who hold foreign passports or who have left Hong Kong for a long time may not have sufficient political loyalty. Therefore, the legal status of "rulers of Hong Kong" must be clearly defined, so as not to cause questions such as the current Legislative Council President Liang Junyan when he took office. Disputes such as withdrawal from British citizenship.
Based on this consideration, it is indeed necessary for Hong Kong today to refer to international experience and its own actual conditions to establish a set of citizenship systems dedicated to the "Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China" and clearly regulate related obligations and requirements. Responsibility system" to the directorate-level administrative officer, requesting more officials to rule Hong Kong by patriots.
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