Two tasks for the SAR government
Updated: 2013-08-28 06:32
By Thomas Chan(HK Edition)
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There should be two tasks for the SAR government to accomplish in the coming months if it is trying to overcome the current danger of losing control of the political processes in Hong Kong.
The first is to enforce law and order with much greater vigor and determination. Anyone and any act that has breached the law and posed a threat to the social order should be prosecuted according to the procedures and requirements of the existing legal system, even though there is much to be desired from the system Hong Kong has inherited from the British colonial regime. The aim is to re-establish the legitimacy and credibility of the law and the government, including its frontline enforcement - the police force, and reaffirm the boundary for the behavior of mass activities like sit-ins, demonstrations, parades and others.
The government should tighten up leeway and disallow the illusion of a weak and over-constrained law-enforcement approach. Certainly the police and the officials have to display their usual professionalism with no bias towards any groups or people with particular political inclinations. The aim is to create a political environment that discourages any direct challenges to law and order and the role of the police force in the execution of its responsibilities, so as to avoid excesses in political demonstrations and possible confrontation and conflicts between groups of different political inclinations.
Democracy should be based on rational discussion, sensible deliberation and reasonable compromises, not on exchanges of rude language, rough behavior and malicious accusations. The tendencies towards confrontations by radical groups, no matter which side of the local political spectrum, will undermine and even dislodge the process of democratization in Hong Kong. This is not the non-issue of 'true' or 'false' popular election, but more importantly it is a matter of whether democratization will progress or regress under the "One Country, Two Systems" regime.
The second is for the government, in conjunction with society at large, to create a vision and development strategy for Hong Kong so as to overcome the present political deadlock and social stalemate.
If Singapore is able to embark on bold moves like venturing into the gaming industry a few years ago and now a complete facelift of the city by having a new master plan for development of its port, airport and waterfront, why should Hong Kong remain reluctant to undertake any major strategy to revive local competitiveness and the local economy after 15 years of close to stagnated growth in almost every area of development. Of course we have the "Hong Kong 2030: Planning Vision and Strategy", but it is not only outdated and misdirected as it follows the traditional colonial approach of centering every development on Central instead of a balanced and comprehensive strategy territory-wide. The recent government proposal for the development of the North East New Territories, which adopts a strengthened traditional new town approach has actually negated the original conception and consultation but without providing any explicit reasons for the change. We are still left without any knowledge about the overall development strategy of the government: has the 2030 vision and strategy already been abandoned and replaced by a new one, or is it only partially altered but for what reasons?
Even the 2030 planning vision and strategy is not very useful as it has proven to be misinformed about the development trends of Hong Kong. The most significant drawback is its underplaying the importance of the boundary locations for future local economic development. Recent proliferation of parallel trade along the boundary, the removal of the frontier closed areas, and the extensive spread of tourism throughout the territory should require an overhaul of the spatial development thinking and rationale of the 2030 plan.
At the same time, the plan assumes the economy of Hong Kong will continue its present trends and thus follow the convention of laissez-faire philosophy of the colonial heritage. However, if the SAR government will be more proactive, for example, with regard to the building of new railway lines in the territory and across the boundary, the transport foundation of spatial development would be radically changed by means of time-distance compression and the resulting proximity advantages. Hong Kong's economy and society will be more integrated both internally and externally with the Pearl River Delta region, which will have a more efficient and dense railway network linking up with the national system.
The author is the director of the Public Policy Research Institute and head of China Business Center, Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
(HK Edition 08/28/2013 page9)