Once Seen as a Model, Hong Kong Is Stumbling
test- obsessed schools leaving students ill- equipped to compete against those in mainland China have not led to education reform. Nor has the government found a way to address public anger over skyrocketing rents and housing prices.
Hong Kong is still a gem in many ways, a place that is hard not to love, and for its 7.4 million residents, hard to leave.
Ribbons of oceanfront skyscrapers are backed by wooded hillsides protected as country parks. Just 10 minutes uphill from the majestic Victoria Harbor and financial district are breathtaking views of the South China Sea. Trails wind past lakes and waterfalls near the city’s large and efficient airport, part of a renowned transport network of subways, buses, trams and ferries.
But the airport was built by the British. So were the institutions that distinguish the city: the independent courts, the widely respected civil service, the freewheeling press.
Those were preserved under the “one country, two systems,” formula that promised Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy when Britain returned it to China. But they have been weakened as the Communist Party increasingly meddles in the city’s affairs, intimidating and even abducting people seen as challenging its interests.
The Umbrella Movement demanding free elections that seized control of downtown streets for 11 weeks in late 2014 is a distant memory.
This spring, a new chief executive for the territory, Carrie Lam, was selected by a committee of about 1,200 residents — mostly allies of Beijing following its instructions.
Critics say limited public accountability has allowed incompetence and even graft to spread. The top two government officials from a previous administration have been tried on corruption charges.
Beijing’s allies have a majority in the legislature because half the 70 seats are selected by interest groups mostly loyal to the mainland. But the other half is elected, and lawmakers who favor greater democracy have won a majority of those seats. The result is gridlock.
Voters have replaced older, more pragmatic politicians with younger candidates more stridently opposed to the Communist authorities and willing to engage in all- out resistance. Last year, Beijing intervened to prevent the seating of two pro-independence politicians who had altered their oath of office to protest Chinese rule.
The legislature’s rules allow any three members to stall action for months with filibusters. In the last two years, various groups in the pro- democracy camp have repeatedly used that tool as leverage, causing a backlog of legislation that has delayed even projects that are not contentious, like a cleanup plan for the harbor.
Both sides agree that the city will become ungovernable without some kind of political change. But they cannot agree on what to do.
The democrats want a clear road map to universal suffrage — which Beijing promised in 2007 “may be implemented” in 2017 — starting with direct elections for the chief executive. Only when the government is accountable to the public will it have a mandate to tackle the challenges facing the city, they say.
But supporters of Beijing say the problem is too much democracy, not too little.
Since the handover, more than one million mainland Chinese have moved here, contributing their talents to the territory’s economic development.
International companies and banks now recruit mainlanders instead of local residents, who speak Cantonese instead of the Mandarin used on the mainland and who often lack the connections to thrive there.
The language issue is a challenge for Hong Kong’s education system, which tries to teach three of them — English, as well as Mandarin and Cantonese. This produces many graduates with weaker English and Mandarin than those from the mainland’s top schools.
The government has resisted proposals to ease the culture of high- pressure testing. Instead, it tried to introduce “patriotic” material into the curriculum, appeasing Beijing while angering parents and students.
The influx of mainlanders has also contributed to exorbitant housing prices, making Hong Kong one of the world’s most expensive places to live. A single parking space recently sold for $664,000. The underlying problem is limited supply. Land disputes have nearly halted plans to build big residential areas in the rural sections of northern Hong Kong.
There is little doubt that President Xi Jinping now calls the shots. He has proved to be a committed authoritarian who considers political liberalization a threat.
Jasper Tsang, the recently retired president of the legislature and a longtime ally of Beijing, said the attitude of Beijing toward the city had hardened.
“People are telling me there won’t be a second chance,” he said.