TNAG-2277-FCO40-3276-Hong-Kong-and-the-media-1991 — Page 107

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[Independent, 2nd leader, 16.9.91]

TIME TO

BUILD REAL DEMOCRACY

THE VOTERS - and the non-voters of Hong Kong yesterday delivered a sharp rebuff to Britain and China. According to exit polls, the election has destroyed the myth propagated by the unelected administration that the people of Hong Kong want only a quiet life and therefore condone Britain's spineless attitude towards Peking. Even before polling day, surveys had shown strong support for the United Democrats of Hong Kong, led by Martin Lee, who attacks both British and Chinese policies. In the voting itself the pro-Peking candidates have done badly, in spite of strenuous efforts on their behalf directed from the north.

The very low turnout suggests apathy, but not support for Peking. Probably what it reflects above all is disdain for the absurdly undemocratic system with which Hong Kong is now saddled. Even if everyone had voted for the opposition, they would have won only 18 of the 60 seats in the Legislative Council because the rest are chosen either by the governor or by elite groups.

Sir David Wilson, the governor, will now have to decide whether to invite representatives of the opposition on to the appointive Executive Council. If he does not do so, the Council will be exposed as hopelessly unrepresentative and will lose what little remains of its credibility. If he does so, he will enrage the Chinese regime, which has denounced Mr. Lee as a subversive ever since he openly supported the democracy movement in China. Mr. Lee's reluctance to join the Executive Council will not enable Sir David and the Foreign Office to avoid a decision. At the very least, Sir David should be instructed to defy Peking by asking Mr. Lee to join the Council. Ideally he should change the constitution to allow the entire council to be democratically elected.

Britain's pusillanimous policy is in any

in any case long overdue for reassessment. Its justification has always been that China held the upper hand and must therefore be treated with care and respect in order to protect the interests of Hong Kong. But China is now led by a dictatorial group of mostly elderly men clinging with great brutality to a system whose days re surely numbered. The expulsion of Andrew Higgins, The Independent's correspondent in Peking, is one symptom of their insecurity. Mr. Higgins knew too much about China to be tolerated.

A regime such as this is not entitled to the respect accorded to the reformists who seemed to be in the ascendant a few years ago. Nor should the power of these men be overestimated. Beneath the surface, China is changing, particularly in the coastal areas near Hong Kong, which have a close interest in its prosperity. With luck, the present leaders will have been swept away by 1997, in which case Britain will look ridiculous for having placated them. If they or their like are still there, they will in all probability be weaker. (They will certainly be older.) But even if the present rulers in Peking do remain in charge and obdurate, Britain's most appropriate policy would be to erect political barriers calculated to give them pause for thought. The Chinese are aware of the power of world opinion. They are also sensitive to signs of weakness. The best preparation for all possibilities is to behave with honour now by building democracy in Hong Kong as fast as possible.