HONG KONG: After a tumultuous week marked by a second massive protest in Hong Kong against a subversion bill and escalating concern in China about the political fallout, leader Tung Chee-hwa now stands in the dock — accused of not listening to the people.
With mounting calls from critics and former supporters to quit, the Beijing-backed Hong Kong chief executive is facing the biggest challenge to his leadership since he was put in charge of the former British colony after it returned to China in 1997.
Analysts say the ex-shipping tycoon has only himself to blame.
“He talks to a lot of people, that’s true. But the problem is, he would have already made up his mind,” said political analyst Andy Ho. “So whatever people say, he does not listen.”
Angered by the government’s insistence on pushing through the controversial anti-subversion bill, over half a million people took to the streets on July 1 in the biggest protest in the territory since just after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
Tung finally postponed enactment of the law, which critics say will impose Beijing-style control over free speech and other basic rights, but his hand was not forced by “people power”. He moved after a key ally quit his cabinet, leaving him insufficient votes to enact the law.
“That 500,000 people marched in the streets did not move him. He only postponed the bill when his cabinet minister quit, which made the passage of the law impossible,” said Sonny Lo, a politics lecturer at the University of Hong Kong.
“Part of Tung’s problem is he is very, very rigid and his close advisers are afraid of telling him the truth.”
Politics professor Joseph Cheng said Tung must reshuffle his cabinet, share power and take in all views to defuse the crisis.
“He must establish a meaningful dialogue with the democrats and start a review of plans for democratisation,” Cheng said.
Lo agreed. “Tung must promise to review political reforms. If not, there will be street violence sooner or later.”
The most faithful of Tung’s supporters cite his close ties with the Chinese central government, which has resulted in Beijing showering Hong Kong with a string of economic favours and special privileges.
BOILING POINT: But frustrated with Tung’s failure to revive the economy, his handling of the SARS crisis and a litany of policy blunders, tempers in the city of almost seven million are boiling over.
Fifty thousand people attended a rally at the heart of the city on Wednesday to denounce the subversion law and to call for universal suffrage. Many carried placards calling for Tung and some of his ministers to quit.
“I am just so unhappy with the way he has run Hong Kong in the last six years. I just want a leader who listens to us,” said protester Lee Lai-yuen, her voice shaking with emotion.
Calls by legal experts, activists and the public for a second round of consultation on the subversion bill fell on deaf years.
Public anger mounted when Regina Ip, the minister responsible for pushing through the bill, said it was unnecessary to release the full wording to the public because “waiters and taxi-drivers” wouldn’t be able to understand anyway.
There are now growing calls for Ip and Financial Secretary Antony Leung, who bought a luxury car earlier this year just before he introduced a new car tax, to resign.
Beijing fears the crisis could discredit its “one country, two systems” policy, which it has also tried to sell to Taiwan for eventual reunification. Concerns on the mainland have grown so acute that Beijing dispatched officials to Hong Kong to assess the problem.
Ho says the crux of the problem lies with Tung and his ruling echelon being out of touch.—Reuters
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