Hong Kong hangs on
Beijing’s still in charge, but stirrings remain
The choice of Carrie Lam as chief executive of Hong Kong Sunday by 65 percent of the mostly pro-Beijing members of an electoral committee, as opposed to a direct election, reflects somewhat accurately its situation.
In 1997 the United Kingdom handed over its former colony to the communist government of mainland China. The idea was that its now 7.3 million inhabitants would be ruled by Beijing, but would also retain some autonomy. The power relationship between the two was and is perfectly clear. The population of mainland China is some 1.4 billion; its armed forces number 2.3 million. China could conquer and occupy Hong Kong anytime it liked.
But preserving the appearance of semi-autonomy in Hong Kong is to Beijing’s advantage. To squash its stirrings would be embarrassing to Chinese President Xi Jinping, and at variance with Beijing’s other efforts to appear to be less autocratic and more tolerant of opposition. On one side of the ledger are Beijing’s efforts to occupy and militarize the South China Sea. On the other side are, for example, its furnishing United Nations peacekeeping forces, consistent with a role as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, and its signature of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran.
It is also clearly to Beijing’s advantage to maintain Hong Kong’s role as a relatively free-market piece of its overall economy. Chinese financial behemoths busily buy apartments in Hong Kong, pushing real estate prices there into the stratosphere.
The people of Hong Kong continue to try to flex their political muscles visibly, particularly with respect to the every-five-years’ “elections” of the chief executive. The 2014 Umbrella Revolution was an attempt on their part to achieve direct election of that official. It failed. The population apparently favored the election of John Tsang, as opposed to Ms. Lam, in Sunday’s event. She had served as deputy to her alsoBeijing-selected predecessor. That preference did not prevail either.
So Hong Kong remains ruled by Beijing, no surprise. But its people continue to make their lack of enthusiasm known on the subject. Of the generally tame committee members, 35 percent voted against Ms. Lam, and two spoiled their ballots. Point made.