THE OPINIONS CONCERNING THE FUTURE OF HONG KONG
What we want is a democratic Hong Kong.
At the same time when we affirm that the sovereignty of Hong Kong belongs to China, we also emphasize on the need for a local democratic reform.
We base ourselves on two principles that are not necessarily incongruous: Democratic Reform and Nationalism.
When dealing with the problem of Hong Kong's Future, we should be careful of two undesirable inclinations.
One is 'the maintenance of the present situation regardless of all circumstances'. More than a hundred years of colonial rule brings us a political structure which is not accountable to public opinion, partial to the interest of consortia, lack of channels for public participation. We object to the maintenance of these unreasonable present conditions because it is not consistent with the long-term advantages of Hong Kong people.
Another is "the return of sovereignty regardless of every circumstances". The return of sovereignty should have the priority in reforming the present unreasonable political structure and social conditions. We emphasize on safe- guarding and raising the living standards of Hongkong people in both the spiritual and material aspects.
Therefore, in our opinion, the problem of Hongkong's Future is not only a problem left over from history, but is the chance to reform the political structure with the priority to widen the channels for the public participation in the decision-making process.
In contemporary Hongkong society, the demand for public participation and democratic consciousness has been growing, such as District Board Election, openness in decision-making on education, supervision of Public Services, and so
It is undeniably the starting point for a democratic reform of the political system.
on.
Regarding the future of Hong Kong, we emphasize on respecting local public opinion, and affirm the participation of citizens so as to promote the constructive contributions of the locality. Therefore, we agree that Hong Kong should possess to a large extent, local democratic autonomy.
The parties concerned should open more channels and consider public opinions seriously. In particular, China should listen to the opinions of the average citizens. We think that China should establish an institution to collect publicly the opinions of the people and deal specifically with the issue on the future of Hong Kong.
The lower classes are most vulnerable to and directly affected by inappropriate policies. Thus, we think that any solution on the issue should have special concern for the interest of the lower classes.
It has been for a long period of time that those delegates of Hong Kong parti- cipating in the National People's Congress and the National Committee of the Political Consultative Conference are not elected and supervised by the people of Hong Kong. Also, they have not really performed the duties of reporting and reflecting. Their representativeness deserves suspicion and therefore, we hope that this imperfection can be reformed.
Lastly, we would like to emphasize that what we are striving for is the unification of China. We hope this will be a united and democratic China.
HONG KONG FEDERATION OF STUDENTS
March 1983