Hong Kong's Transition to Chinese Rule: The Limits of Autonomy (English-Language Series of the Institute of Asian Affairs, H)

253 Pages·2002·1.69 MB·English

by  Ralf Horlemann

HONG KONG’S TRANSITION TO CHINESE RULE
Since Hong Kong was returned to Chinese sovereignty five years ago, the region has enjoyed changing
fortunes. The ‘high degree of autonomy’ promised to Hong Kong has been revealed as limited in many
ways. China’s reservations about the development of democracy in Hong Kong seems to lie at the heart of
this problem, and the result is a stifling of Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability.
This book examines Hong Kong’s recent history, from its birth as a British colony, through the Patten era
to its rebirth as a Special Administrative Region of China. Ralf Horlemann argues that democracy and
autonomy are vital to the maintenance of the success of the region, but that the fundamental flaws in the
Basic Law, Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, have come to reveal a correlation between a lack of democracy
and a loss of autonomy. The author finds that genuine autonomy from the Central Government in Beijing is
impossible without a democratic system in Hong Kong. Yet since the handover democratic trends have been
halted and even reversed.
Hong Kong’s Transition to Chinese Rule is a lucidly written account of the region’s history which also
looks forward to what the future might hold. It will be of interest to scholars of Hong Kong and Chinese
history, Asian studies and international relations.
Ralf Horlemann has been a member of the German Foreign Office for ten years. In this time he has been
posted to China, Hong Kong and Korea. At the Foreign Office in Bonn and later in Berlin he has served in
the departments for East Asia and European Security Policy, respectively. He is currently working on the
Asia Desk in the Germany Embassy in Washington (USA).
English-language Series of the Institute of Asian Affairs, Hamburg
VERBUND STIFTUNG
DEUTSCHES ÜBERSEE-INSTITUT
The Institute of Asian Affairs forms, together with the Institute of Comparative Overseas Studies, the
Institute of African Affairs, the Institute for Ibero-American Studies and the German Oriental Institute, the
Foundation German Overseas Institute in Hamburg.
The objective of the Institute of Asian Affairs is to promote research on contemporary political, economic
and social developments in Asian countries. In so doing, the Institute endeavours to encourage the
expression of various opinions. The reader should note, however, that the views expressed are those of the
authors and not necessarily those of the Institute of Asian Affairs.
EAST ASIA BY THE YEAR 2000 AND BEYOND
Edited by Wolfgang Pape
CHINA’S ECONOMIC SECURITY
Edited by Werner Draguhn & Robert Ash
FRENCH AND JAPANESE ECONOMIC RELATIONS
WITH VIETNAM
Henrich Dahm
TOURISM AND LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN CHINA
Gang Xu
CHINA’S LEGAL REFORMS AND THEIR POLITICAL LIMITS
Edited by Eduard B.Vermeer & Ingrid d’Hooghe
CHINA’S COMMUNIST REVOLUTIONS:
FIFTY YEARS OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Edited by Werner Draguhn & David S.G.Goodman
ASIA-PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION (APEC)
THE FIRST DECADE
Edited by Jürgen Rüland, Eva Manske & Werner Draguhn
CHINA’S ACCESSION TO THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION
NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES
Edited by Heike Holbig & Robert Ash
HONG KONG’S TRANSITION TO CHINESE RULE
THE LIMITS OF AUTONOMY
Ralf Horlemann
HONG KONG’S TRANSITION TO
CHINESE RULE
Ralf Horlemann
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published 2003
by RoutledgeCurzon
11 New Fetter Lane, London, EC4P 4EE
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
By RoutledgeCurzon
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to
www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
RoutledgeCurzon is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
Publisher’s Note
This book has been prepared from camera-ready copy provided by the author.
© 2003 Ralf Horlemann
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any
electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Horlemann, Ralf, 1960–
Hong Kong’s transition to Chinese rule/Ralf Horlemann.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Hong Kong (China)—History. 2. Hong Kong (China)—History—Transfer of
Sovereignty from Great Britain, 1997. 1. Title.
DS796.H757 H675 2002
951.25–dc21
2002073381
ISBN 0-203-40192-1 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-40847-0 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0-415-29681-1 (Print Edition)
CONTENTS
List of Tables viii
Preface ix
Acknowledgements xvi
Abbreviations xvii
Hong Kong as a British Colony 1
1.1 The Constitution 1
1.2 The System of Government 2
1.3 The Executive Council 3
1.4 The Legislative Council 4
From the Joint Declaration to the Basic Law (1984–1989) 7
2.1 Basic Concepts of the Joint Declaration 7
2.2 The Limits of Reform 10
2.3 Drafting the Basic Law 13
Tiananmen and the Consequences (1989–1992) 19
3.1 Introduction 19
3.2 Damage Repair—Soft Approach 20
3.2.1 The nationality package 20
3.2.2 Strengthening human rights 21
3.2.3 Changes to the Societies Ordinance and the Public Order Ordinance 24
3.3 Excursus: Corruption 27
3.4 The Promise of Democracy—Unfulfilled 30
Patten’s Reforms and China’s Reaction (1992–1997) 33
4.1 Damage Repair—Patten’s Approach 33
4.2 Effects of Patten’s Reform Policy on Hong Kong’s Political System 42
vi
4.2.1 Development of LegCo—from consensus to confrontation 42
4.2.2 The party political scene 46
4.2.3 LegCo after the 1995 elections—almost a parliament 54
4.3 China’s Reaction 58
4.3.1 Preliminary Working Committee 58
4.3.2 Preparatory Committee 60
4.3.3 Selection Committee 63
4.3.4 Selection and appointment of the Chief Executive 64
4.3.5 Establishment of the Provisional Legislative Council 65
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China 68
5.1 Introduction 68
5.2 Legal Position under the Chinese Constitution 70
5.3 The Basic Law 71
5.3.1 The relationship between the SAR and the CPG 72
5.3.2 External relations 78
5.3.3 The political system 80
5.3.3.1 The Chief Executive 81
5.3.3.2 The Executive Council 84
5.3.3.3 The civil service 84
5.3.3.4 The legislature 85
5.3.4 The judiciary 90
5.3.5 Political parties and civil society 93
5.3.6 Freedom and human rights 96
5.3.7 The economy 97
The Hong Kong SAR Four Years after the Handover 101
6.1 Introduction 101
6.2 Economic and Financial Autonomy 103
6.3 Rule of Law and Human Rights 105
6.3.1 Discontinuity in the application of laws 105
6.3.2 Legality of the PLC 106
vii
6.3.3 The power of final adjudication 109
6.3.4 Repeal of liberal laws 111
6.3.5 Human rights: dark clouds on the horizon 113
6.3.6 Infringements on the rule of law 117
6.4 The Political System 118
6.4.1 Disruptions in the executive 118
6.4.2 Lack of control by the legislature 120
6.4.3 Poor crisis management 121
6.4.4 Elections to LegCo 1998 and 2000 124
6.4.5 Power of the parties and LegCo 129
The need for political reforms 132
Bibliography 139
Annex 1 Sino-British Joint Declaration 1984 152
Annex 2 Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Related NPC 169
Decisions
Annex 3 Exchange of Letters between the British and Chinese Sides in 1990 203
Annex 4 Participation of the Hong Kong SAR in International Organisations and Bodies 213
Annex 5 Members of the Hong Kong SAR Government 2001 215
Annex 6 Members of the Executive Council 2001 216
Annex 7 The Work of the Legislative Council 1984–2001 217
Annex 8 Members of the Legislative Council 2000–2001 219
Annex 9 The Composition of the Legislative Council 1984–2004 221
Annex 10 Legislative Council Elections in 1998 and 2000 222
Annex 11 Reunification Ordinance 1997 225
Annex 12 Rules for Members of the Selection Committee 226
Annex 13 Rules of Procedure of the HKSAR Legislative Council 228
Index 230
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 Distortions in the 1998 and 2000 Legislative Council Elections 127
Table 2 The Work of the Legislative Council 1984–2001 217
Table 3 The Composition of the Legislative Council 1976–2004 221
Table 4 Geographical Constituencies 222
Table 5 Functional Constituencies 222
Table 6 Election Committee 224
PREFACE
Hong Kong—orderly retreat and systematic takeover
In diplomacy as in war, there is nothing as difficult as an orderly retreat. Over the centuries, from the United
States’ Declaration of Independence to the process of decolonisation in Asia and Africa in the twentieth
century, Britain has been able to amass unparalleled experience in the process of imperial retreat from colonies,
protectorates and dominions. Although this retreat did not always go according to plan nor proceed in an
orderly fashion, and occurred at times against the will of the colonial power or was driven by violent
independence movements, nevertheless, it normally followed a certain pattern. This was based on a doctrine
of gradual constitutional reform, aimed at the eventual self-government and independence of the colonies.
In marked contrast to other colonial powers like France, Belgium or Portugal, British decolonisation policy
may therefore be seen as relatively far-sighted, although a ‘grand design’ is not apparent.1 Regardless of
whether one views the way in which Britain let its colonies reach independence as a ‘historical
achievement’,2 and the willingness to carry this through as a ‘sign of political strength’,3 or regards British
policy, as in the case of the African colonies, as a ‘colossal failure’,4 at least the distinguishing feature of
British colonial power was always to think about the end of her rule.
At first glance, it might therefore seem surprising that in the case of the crown colony of Hong Kong,
whose return to China on 1 July 1997 was clearly foreseen with the signature of the Beijing Convention on
9 June 1898,5 awareness of the end of colonial rule was repressed and the colony was not allowed that
gradual progression to self-government. This is all the more surprising since, thanks to its internal political
conditions, its advanced state of economic development and the high standard of education within the local
population, Hong Kong was well placed by the 1970s, if not earlier, to adopt a policy of constitutional
1 There is a wealth of material on this subject. I have drawn on the following texts in particular: Holland, Roy Fraser:
European Decolonization 1918–1981. An Introductory Survey. New York, 1985; Mommsen, Wolfgang J. (ed.): Das
Ende der Kolonialreiche. Dekolonisation und die Politik der Gro“smächte. Frankfurt, 1990; Ansprenger, Franz:
Auflösung der Kolonialreiche. 4th.edition, Munich 1981; Albertini, Rudolf von: Europäische Kolonialherrschaft. Die
Expansion in Übersee von 1880–1940. Munich, 1982; Austin, Dennis G.: ‘The Transfer of Power: Why and How?’ In:
Morris-Jones, W.H. and Austin, Dennis G. (ed.): Decolonization and After. London, 1980. Osterhammel, Jürgen:
‘Spätkolonialismus und Dekolonisation’, Neue Politische Literatur, No.37/1992, pp.404–426.
2Mommsen, Das Ende der Kolonialreiche, op.cit., p.26
3Flint, John, ‘Planned Decolonization and its Failure in British Africa’, African Affairs, Vol. 82, No. 328, 1983, pp.389–
411, here: p.390.
4Ibid., p.410.