Political situation
Written by: Lin Jian
2021-03-10 07:00
Last update date: 2021-03-10 07:00
The national "two sessions" are being held in Beijing. The plenary session of the National People's Congress will deliberate and pass the "Decision of the National People's Congress on Improving the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's Electoral System (Draft)". The political landscape of Hong Kong will be completely rewritten.
The specific plan has not yet been announced, but from the current information, the cancellation of the "District Council (Second)" (Super District Council) seat in the Legislative Council is expected to be a foregone conclusion.
The super-district seat is the product of the negotiation between the Democratic Party and the Liaison Office during the 2010 political reform. It is the only political reform passed through the "Five Steps of Political Reform" so far. It is also the "ice-breaking" of the democrats and the central government. "The result of communication.
However, after 11 years, the system will eventually come to an end.
The reporter of "Hong Kong 01" invited Emily Liu, the former chairman of the Democratic Party who was involved in negotiations with the Liaison Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, to talk about her feelings.
Emily Liu said that she was certainly disappointed with the electoral reform and criticized it as a "gradual retreat" to remove the democratic elements of Hong Kong's political system. However, she did not think that the negotiations with the Liaison Office on that day were "in vain." It's a small step before the trip.
However, Liu mentioned that since the political reform was passed 11 years ago, the central government has not actively communicated with the democrats, and there is no meaningful communication between the two sides. He regrets this, and lamented that both the central government and the SAR government have treated the democrats in recent years. Tend to "replace communication with confrontation" and worry that this situation will continue.
Therefore, although she has always personally supported dialogue, she is not optimistic about the reopening of communication between the democrats and Beijing in the future.
The only achievement that year was cut off Liu: no one can guarantee how long it will last
In 2010, five then-democratic legislators Chen Weiye, Liang Jiajie, Chen Shuzhuang, Huang Yumin, and Liang Guoxiong resigned and launched the "five district general resignation referendum" in an attempt to promote political reform under public pressure. The Democratic Party refused to participate in the action.
Since February of that year, the Democratic Party began contacting Liang Aishi, then Deputy Director of the Basic Law Committee. After that, under the green light of the then leader of Beijing, the Liaison Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China conducted many negotiations with the Democratic Party.
In the end, the central government made a final decision. On June 21 of that year, the Hong Kong government revised the original political reform plan by adding "District Councils (Second)" to the district council functional constituencies, which were elected by voters who did not have the right to vote in other functional constituencies. The preferred committee has increased from 800 to 1,200.
Finally, on June 24 and 25, the amendment to the method for the formation of the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council was approved by the Legislative Council by a two-thirds majority under the approval of the Democratic Party and the ADPL.
This political reform caused a split between the moderate and the radical within the democrats, but it was also regarded as the result of a healthy communication between the democrats and the central government.
However, the interaction between the democrats and the central government could not be maintained. In 2014, the National People's Congress decided on 8.31 that the "three gates" were not accepted by the democrats, and the 79th occupation took place thereafter.
In the following year, the government's political reform plan received only 8 votes in support and 28 votes against it in the Legislative Council.
So far, the government has not proposed any political reforms, but the political system has been entangled in Hong Kong society, and even became one of the reasons for the outbreak of the 2019 legislative turmoil.
After the implementation of the electoral reform proposed by the current National People's Congress, it also symbolizes that the product of the Democratic Party's compromise 11 years ago has become history.
No more substantial and meaningful dialogue after 2010
Emily Liu said that she would not feel that the negotiations with the Liaison Office on that day were "for nothing," because the Democratic Party thought that the political reform package was worth doing. In any case, it was considered a small step forward as a transitional arrangement towards universal suffrage. "No one can guarantee how long (the system) will last."
But she mentioned that since the political reform campaign in 2010, the central government has no longer actively communicated with the Democratic Party, and there has been no meaningful dialogue with each other. She regrets this: "Since that time, (the central government) has not had any in-depth contact with us. In fact, it's not just us (the Democratic Party), no other democrats."
Liu Yishu, Zhang Xiaoming, then director of the Liaison Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, met with the four major sections of the Democrats in mid-August 2014. Meet with members of the Democratic Party Legislative Council), but both sides have stated their own opinions, and no results can be reached.
In the end, the National People's Congress closed on 8.31, and then occupation operations broke out. The negotiations between the two sides have actually been pulled down.
▼In 2010, the five districts' general resignation and political reform disputes▼
I don’t see the opportunity to communicate but I don’t say that I’ve been “finished”
When it comes to "communication with the central government," today there seems to be a bit of a stalemate, because political reality often gives people a sense of "balanced time and space."
The pro-democracy faction has arrested a large number of key figures in the primary elections. Even the Democratic Party members Yin Zhaojian, Lin Zhuoting, Huang Biyun, Hu Zhiwei, and Zhao Jiaxian are now charged with "conspiracy to subvert state power."
There are opinions in the political circles that the central government seems to have identified even the Democratic Party as an enemy and that it needs to "kill all."
Under these circumstances, is it realistic to talk about "communication"?
Emily Lau said that she is no longer the leadership of the Democratic Party. He is just an ordinary Democrat and Hong Kong citizen and cannot represent the entire Democratic Party.
However, as a person who has negotiated with the central government, she said that she has always believed in communication, does not approve of violence, and advocates mutual understanding and mutual accommodation to reach a consensus.
"Politics is never say never. The current situation seems to have no chance (communication), but I will not say that it has been "finished". No matter how difficult it is, someone needs to try."
However, Emily Liu pointed out that there is an important prerequisite for political negotiation and communication. The two sides do not insist on what they have seen, and there is room for negotiation. The "powerful party" is often more responsible: "You can stand up and negotiate. Of course, there are some places. There is room for negotiation and concession. This is called communication. If both sides are firm, then what else will we talk about?"
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I feel that the central government and the SAR "replace communication with confrontation": insisting on what has already been seen is also a kind of confrontation
She cites Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s performance during the legislative turmoil as an example: "On the day Carrie Lam said that he wanted to have a community dialogue with the "wishful person", but the result was just repeating the official stance, except that Xinwuling had a few new comments (no promises) In addition to using the Xinwuling Detention Center), the most important issues will not be compromised.” As a result, after a dialogue meeting in September, the community dialogue could not continue, and the situation did not improve at all. On the contrary, more people felt that the government would not listen. Views, demonstrations continue to heat up.
Liu said: "For example, Hong Kong people are eager for democracy, freedom, and the rule of law in the future, and they are very worried about freedom of speech and personal safety damage in the future. There will be "white terror". Should you (the central government) also do something to show this? Will things not be damaged?"
Emily Liu admitted that she has not seen any kindness from the central government in this regard for the time being, and lamented that both the central government and the SAR government have tended to "use confrontation instead of communication" towards democrats in recent years.
She pointed out that "confrontation" can also be divided into different levels, which can be to provoke conflict directly, just like some Deep Blue people do now; not allowing every step to stick to one's own opinions is strictly speaking a kind of "confrontation", because it makes both sides The relationship is further tense.
When it comes to the relationship between the democrats and the central government, after the anti-revision incident in 2019, the traditional pan-democracy is considered to be getting closer and closer to the radical protesters. In the eyes of the central government, even the former moderate democrats are "unsaved."
Are the democrats responsible for the severance of the door of communication?
"How to view the Democratic Party’s line is the freedom of others."
Emily Lau said that how to view the Democratic Party’s line is the freedom of others. "We have always been in politics like this. The platform has been made public and everyone can monitor it." Moreover, as early as before the legislative turmoil, such as when Liang Zhenying was in power, the democrats Relations with the central government and the SAR government have deteriorated.
She also mentioned that although the democrats’ seats are expected to shrink greatly after the restructuring and cannot control the overall political landscape, the democrats always have voters as the basis for public opinion. This is a fact that no one can deny: "Believe in the spirit of democracy. We must respect public opinion and respect the considerations of all parties. No matter what, the democrats used to be the representatives of the public opinion of a considerable number of people."
▼47 democrats charged with conspiracy to subvert state power▼
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There is only one real reason for approving election reforms, opening up democracy and reversing district council seats.
According to the electoral reform plan currently circulating in the political circles, in addition to the abolition of super-district seats in the Legislative Council, the 117 seats in the Election Committee will also become history.
In recent days, many pro-China people, including Fan Xu Litai, a former member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, have stated that the district councils are "non-political organizations" and should not occupy so many positions in the Legislative Council and the Election Committee.
However, Emily Liu said that the system has been implemented for many years and I haven't heard anyone say that there is a problem. It is only when the democrats dominate the district council that "there is a problem."
Therefore, she believes that "the district council is not a political organization" is just an excuse. The only real reason for the cancellation of the district council election committee seats is that the current district council is dominated by democratic parties: "(The electoral committee contains 117 district councils) is operating. There have been no incidents for many years, and you did not say anything, but when the democrats won the election, you said that there was a problem? Don’t forget that this system was designed by you.” Liu believes that the central-led election reform is “gradual and orderly” "Retreat" cuts away the democratic elements, and believes that society will continue to progress, and "returning representative government" to the level of the 1980s and 1990s is of course unacceptable.
After the restructuring of the Legislative Council elections, the proportion of directly elected seats will be greatly reduced.
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Refers to Panmin has always been "loyal to the opposition" and appeals to Hong Kong people to continue their efforts in different positions
In today's political situation, the future of the democrats is in doubt.
Among them, Liu Zhaojia, the vice chairman of the National Hong Kong and Macau Research Association, once stated that the main purpose of electoral reform is to prevent radicals from entering the parliament and create a living space for the "loyal opposition". He also pointed out that this is the only way for the Democratic Party to return to parliament.
According to Liu Zhaojia’s definition, “loyal opposition” refers to the recognition of the constitutional framework composed of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China, the Basic Law, and the Hong Kong National Security Law, and does not harm national security, collude with foreign forces, or paralyze the special zone. The government operates under the above framework and acts as a reformist within the system.
Emily Liu said that she didn't quite understand the basis of this statement.
First of all, the "loyal opposition" in the Western context always has a chance to win the election and the political party is naturally more submissive to the existing source of power. However, the Hong Kong opposition cannot be in power anyway. After the electoral reform, it will be difficult to even supervise governance. Furthermore, according to Liu Zhaojia’s definition above, she believes that the traditional pan-democrats have been "loyal to the opposition" for the past 20 years. Most people love the country and Hong Kong, for the good of the country and Hong Kong, and advocate human rights, democracy and freedom. How many people (Panmin) really want to "team up" the government? I believe not." But Panmin has long been labeled as "anti-China chaos in Hong Kong" and "collaboration with foreign forces" by pro-China factions.
For this reason, she hopes that Beijing will calm down and understand that the vast majority of Hong Kong people love their country and Hong Kong. They will not support Hong Kong independence. They just hope to have a free lifestyle, personal safety, rule of law and democracy: "There used to be pro-China relations. People say that Hong Kong is a "political giant baby" and is spoiled, but it's not the same thing at all. These are just some small requirements, and I don't want Hong Kong to be ruined. (Beijing) There is no need to be so afraid, as if it is a big enemy. , Where will anyone shake your regime?"
Finally, Emily Liu sent a message to the democrats and the people of Hong Kong. Even though the current environment is bad, don’t be too pessimistic. Keep working hard in different positions, believing that what you do is meaningful: "I know that people are in a very difficult situation at the moment. I believe If you are worried or worried and want to leave, I hope you will succeed. I hope that after the epidemic, the people of Hong Kong can come out again and exercise the right to peaceful demonstration."
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