MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1993
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PITT THE YOUNGER, THE PRIME MINISTER OF BRITAIN TWO CENTURIES AGO, HAD A SHORT ANSWER TO ALL OF THAT. "WAS NOT NECESSITY" HE ONCE ASKED OF HIS FOE CHARLES JAMES FOX, "THE PLEA OF EVERY ILLEGAL EXERTION OF POWER OR EXERCISE OF OPPRESSION? NECESSITY IS THE PLEA FOR EVERY IMPROVEMENT OF HUMAN FREEDOM. IT 18 THE ARGUMENT OF TYRANTS; IT IS THE CREED OF SLAVES.
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THE IDEA THAT HUMAN RIGHTS HOLD UP PROSPERITY IS PREPOSTEROUS. HUMAN RIGHTS HAVE NEVER EMPTIED STOMACHS. HUMAN RIGHTS DON'T HAMPER GROWTH. THEY DIDN'T IN GERMANY AFTER THE WAR. NOR IN JAPAN. NOR HERE IN HONG KONG. INDEED ONE OF THE REASONS ALL OF THESE ECONOMIES HAVE BEEN SO SUCCESSFUL IS PRECISELY BECAUSE THEY HAD OR DEVELOPED A SOLID LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND BECAUSE THEY WERE ABLE TO BUILD ON A HEALTHY RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS. THE MOST SUCCESSFUL ECONOMIES HAVEN'T PUT HUMAN RIGHTS ON HOLD WHILE THEY'VE MOVED FORWARD THEY'VE HELD ON TO THEM HARD.
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WHICH BRINGS ME TO THE QUESTION OF DEMOCRACY. YOU DON'T RAVE TO BE A MARXIST TO BELIEVE THAT ECONOMIC, TECHNOLOGICAL
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENTS HAVE POLITICAL RESULTS. PEOPLE WHO HAVE MORE SAY WITH THEIR WALLETS EVENTUALLY WANT A BIT MORE SAY IN THE WAY THEY ARE GOVERNED. IN HONG KONG, GROWING AFFLUENCE HAS BROUGHT RISING ASPIRATIONS - IF EXTRAORDINARILY MODEST ONES. MODERATELY EXPRESSED.
WAS IN RECOGNITION OF THAT FACT THAT THE JOINT DECLARATION SPELT OUT THAT THE LEGISLATURE OF THE SAR "SHALL BE CONSTITUTED BY ELECTIONS", AND THE BASIC LAW PROVIDES FOR A GROWING NUMBER OF DIRECTLY-ELECTED SEATS IN LEGCO NOT AS MANY AS SOME WOULD LIKE, A GROWING NUMBER.
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SO IT'S NOT A QUESTION OF WHETHER HONG KONG DESERVES DEMOCRACY. IT'S NOT A QUESTION OF WHETHER THIS GOVERNMENT, OR THIS GOVERNOR, WILL GIVE IT DEMOCRACY. THE QUESTION OF DEMOCRACY HOW MUCH AND WHEN - IS ALREADY SETTLED. WHAT IS AT ISSUE IS WHETHER THE DEMOCRACY THAT HAS BEEN PROMISED WILL BE REAL DEMOCRACY OR COUNTERFEIT DEMOCRACY; WHETHER THE ELECTIONS TO LEGCO SHOULD BE REAL ONES OFFERING A GENUINE CHOICE OR BOGUS ONES AMOUNTING TO APPOINTMENT BEHIND DEMOCRACY'S GARB; THAT IS MY CONCERN, THAT SHOULD BE EVERYONE'S CONCERN.
FOR YEARS, AS I SAID EARLIER, HONG KONG HAS HAD A RULE OF LAW WITHOUT DEMOCRACY ALBEIT WITH DEMOCRATIC OVERSIGHT FROM WESTMINSTER. BUT FOR THE REASONS I OUTLINE EARLIER IT HAS BEEN NONE THE LESS A REAL AND EFFECTIVE RULE OF LAW.
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NOW HONG KONG IS TO HAVE A WHOLLY ELECTED LEGISLATURE FOR THE FIRST TIME. THE NATURE OF THOSE ELECTIONS IS CRUCIAL TO THE FUTURE OF HONG KONG. REAL ELECTIONS ÉLECTIONS FOR WHICH THERE IS A LEVEL- PLAYING FIELD (WHAT A GOOD PHRASE THAT IS) - REAL ELECTIONS WILL ENHANCE THE LEGISLATURE AND UNDERPIN THE RULE OF LAW IN HONG KONG. ENSURE A LEVEL-PLAYING FIELD FOR LEGCO, AND YOU HELP ΤΟ SUSTAIN A LEVEL-PLAYING FIELD OUTSIDE IT · FOR THE LAW, FOR BUSINESS, FOR
THE MAN OR WOMAN ON THE WAN CHAI OMNIBUS. COMPROMISE THE ELECTIONS, YOU INJECT DRY-ROT INTO THE ENTIRE INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURE OF KONG.
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HONG
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