47
any real substance. On the other hand, despite some clumsy moves
to influence local affairs on her part, China is loath to see the
colonial government undermined as that would imperil the
stability and prosperity of Hong Kong. Accordingly, Britain is
ultimately responsible and is held responsible by China for the
governance of Hong Kong prior to 1997. Under these circumstances,
there is a strong temptation for the colonial government to hold
on to power as far as possible.
However, as a result of the erosion of the conditions for
effective governance, such a 'do-it-alone' approach is not
adequate for the tasks. This approach is on the surface a
feasible option as the colonial government is not and will not be
under any threat of overthrow by the people or restoration of
Chinese sovereignty in advance of 1997. There are two types of
'do-it-alone' approaches: an active one and a passive one.
An active 'do-it-alone' approach would mean that the colonial
government pursue an active course of action to tackle with Hong
Kong's problems, to counter any political challenge from China or
from within the territory with gusto, and to enlarge its power
base. However, in view of the erosion of the conditions for
effective governance, this is hard to achieve. The minimal
coercive capacity at the disposal of the government, its
declining ability to expand the colonial ruling coalition through co-opting the local elites, 41 the increasing fiscal
constraints, 42 the limited professional expertise of an
administration headed by generalist civil servants, and the
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.