Hong Kong is locked!
By Stephen Ndegwa, June 18, 2021If there was any doubt about the resolve of mother China to totally reclaim and secure its brood, then recent developments in Hong Kong have finally settled the matter. Amid sabotage by both Western corporate and political interests in recent years, Hong Kong has finally come to and declared its independence from the hostage of external vested interests.
On July 1, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) will be 24-years-old, which marks the date the territory returned to the motherland from the British colonialists in 1997. The date also coincides with the centenary of the Communist Party of China (CPC), which has been administering the HKSAR after British rule under the “One Country, Two Systems” policy.
Finally, the wisdom of the late Chinese president Deng Xiaoping in initiating this hybrid system is clearly evident. In order not to destabilize its reclaimed territory, HKSAR, and Macau for that matter, effectively became the property of mainland China but were free to retain their individual economic and administrative systems under the tutelage of the mainland government.
Thrown out of their comfort zone, the former British colonial power and its Western allies were in denial and tried to continue meddling in the now independent SAR, which necessitated the formulation and subsequent enactment of the national security law in June 2020. Of course, Britain was not amused and incited revolt by some sections of the Hongkongers – but to no avail.
The high-level seminar on the relationship between the CPC and the “One Country, Two Systems” held mid-June was the final confirmation that China will not renege on its commitment to the HKSAR. The CPC used the opportunity to unequivocally stamp its authority on the HKSAR and stress the sovereignty of Hong Kong under its leadership.
Exposing the meddlers, the director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR, Luo Huining warned: “those trying to turn Hong Kong into a pawn in geopolitics, a tool to curb China, as well as a bridgehead for infiltrating the mainland, are destroying the foundation of ‘One Country, Two Systems,’ and they are the real enemies of Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability.”
The CPC was, and is still under no obligation to let the two systems – market economy on one hand and socialism with Chinese characteristics on the other – to operate in tandem. The goodwill and perfect harmony is as a result of unsurpassed political wisdom of the ruling party, taking cognizance of HKSAR’s modern history; the fact that the British and by extension the Western world had turned the territory into their second home.
A drastic upturn of the dual system would not have augured well for the already established social and economic structures in Hong Kong. But this hospitality did not extend to a license for making unrealistic demands on their hosts. Like they have done in some countries, the erstwhile colonialists flopped in turning the Hong Kong administration into a puppet regime, which is actually the source of their bitterness and frustration.
Recent reports in the Western media that allege an exodus by Hongkongers to the UK for fear of political persecution was really baseless sensationalism. In any case, it is good riddance to the unpatriotic as they are definitely a liability and potential saboteurs to the current and future socio-economic and political stability of the HKSAR.
Far from the erroneous impression created about the impact of those leaving on HKSAR, the territory is doing just fine and regaining its foothold after the foreign instigated so called pro-democracy protests, and the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic as well.
In a media interview on April 20, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said the worst times have passed for the SAR, with government estimates pointing to an annual 3-5 per cent economic growth for 2021. During the 2021-22 financial year, the government spelt out a raft of measures to restore the territory’s economy and improve people’s lives post COVID-19.
These include offering low-interest loans to jobless citizens to help them live decent lives, an extra half-month allowance for social assistance, old age and disability benefits, and a commitment of HK$ 6.6 billion (about US dollars 850 million) to create 30,000 jobs during the year. Millions of dollars were also budgeted for to revamp both the construction and tourism sectors.
If the Western world ever needed confirmation from its own Bretton woods institution, the International Monetary Fund released a report on June 9 that gave Hong Kong a clean bill of health as an international financial center citing the SAR’s resilient financial system, sound macroeconomic and prudential policies, and robust regulatory and supervisory frameworks.
Now, this does not look like a territory that needs to be babied to govern itself. It is also a confirmation that meddlers need to stick to their lane and keep off Chinese SARs including Taiwan and Macau.
The writer is the Executive Director of South-South Dialogues, a Nairobi based research and development communication think tank.