Political Development in Hong Kong: State, Political Society, and Civil Society PDF
Preview Political Development in Hong Kong: State, Political Society, and Civil Society
Political Development in Hong Kong Hong Kong University Press thanks Xu Bing for writing the Press’s name in his Square Word Calligraphy for the covers of its books. For further information, see p. iv. This page intentionally left blank Political Development in Hong Kong State, Political Society, and Civil Society Ma Ngok Hong Kong University Press 14/F Hing Wai Centre 7 Tin Wan Praya Road Aberdeen Hong Kong © Ma Ngok 2007 Hardback ISBN 978-962-209-809-1 Paperback ISBN 978-962-209-810-7 All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Secure On-line Ordering http:// www.hkupress.org British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Printed and bound by United League Graphic & Printing Co. Ltd., in Hong Kong, China Hong Kong University Press is honoured that Xu Bing, whose art explores the complex themes of language across cultures, has written the Press’s name in his Square Word Calligraphy. This signals our commitment to cross-cultural thinking and the distinctive nature of our English-language books published in China. “At first glance, Square Word Calligraphy appears to be nothing more unusual than Chinese characters, but in fact it is a new way of rendering English words in the format of a square so they resemble Chinese characters. Chinese viewers expect to be able to read Square Word Calligraphy but cannot. Western viewers, however are surprised to find they can read it. Delight erupts when meaning is unexpectedly revealed.” — Britta Erickson, The Art of Xu Bing Contents Preface vii Acronyms and Abbreviations ix Chapter One Political Development in Hong Kong 1 PART A The State 15 Chapter Two The Nature of the Colonial State 17 Chapter Three Passages to the Post-Colonial State 33 Chapter Four The Post-Colonial State 57 PART B Political Society and Political Development 93 Chapter Five The Legislature 97 Chapter Six Political Parties 135 PART C Civil Society and Democratization 159 Chapter Seven Encroachments on Civil Society 163 Chapter Eight Civil Society in Self-Defense 199 Chapter Nine An Institutionalist’s Conclusion 221 vi Contents Appendices 1. Major Quangos Established since the 1980s 233 2. Major Judicial Review Cases, 2002–05 246 3. Examples of Criticisms from the Audit Commission, 1998–2003 248 4. Major Controversial Events Related to Civil Liberties after 1997 251 5. Coalitions, United Fronts, and Alliances, 1998–2004 257 Notes 269 Bibliography 281 Index 301 Preface THE IDEA OF WRITING THIS book started on December 13, 2001. On that day, Tung Chee-hwa announced his bid to run for a second term of five years for the post of Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. In the Convention Center Auditorium, packed with business tycoons, selected social leaders and pro-Beijing elites, his campaign speech was frequently interrupted by thunderous applauses. Business leaders, pro-Beijing politicians, and film and sports stars took turns to get on to the stage to sing praises for Tung’s performance. Weeks later he was declared elected the second Chief Executive of Hong Kong without contest, after 714 of the 800 Election Committee members, representing the most influential business and professional groups in the territory, nominated him for a second term. No other local politicians seriously tried to challenge Tung for his second term. In the week following the campaign speech, the Hong Kong Transition Project released opinion polls that showed only 18% of Hong Kong people liked to see a second term of Tung, with 61% disapproving. The difference between the self-trumpeted popularity in the Convention Center Auditorium on December 13, 2001 and the public feelings could not have been more striking. Unpopular autocrats can rule for long periods of time in dictatorships, and government propaganda always do not reflect public sentiments, but few non-democracies allowed free media or free academic research to adequately expose the frailty of the government’s propaganda as in the case of Hong Kong. The above episode reflected the huge gap between the state elites and societal sentiments in Hong Kong, which drove me to think and re-think how far state- society relations had transformed over the years. My personal impression, through living and researching in Hong Kong, was that after 1997 the official picture presented by the government, the rhetoric of the elites, the “Hong Kong” reflected in the mass media, was further and further away from what people on the street actually thought and experienced, which posed a root problem of the governance for the SAR. This, being an impression, is not necessarily scientific. This book represents a more serious attempt to study systematically the changing state-society relations in Hong Kong in recent years. This book is the result of three years of research and writing from 2003 to 2005. It is also a culmination of my personal thinking on various issues related to viii Preface political development in Hong Kong. As a researcher on Hong Kong politics in the last ten years, I always find numerous interesting political issues and research questions unexplored. With limited capacities and resources, I can only touch on some of these issues in this book; other issues are left for fellow scholars to explore, provide answers, and ask more questions. As most of the text was finished before Tung Chee-hwa stepped down in March 2005, this book does not effectively deal with the new politics of the Donald Tsang era. Yet I remain convinced that most of the issues I raised in this book cannot be solved merely by a change in personnel, as they point to more fundamental issues of governing philosophy and institutional reforms. Many people have a hand in the limited contributions of this book. Over the years numerous teachers and cohorts have enlightened me in my course of academic pursuit, and it is impossible for me to thank all of them one by one here. Researchers and scholars on Hong Kong and political practitioners, through years of interaction and discussion with me, provide significant stimulations for my research ideas and thoughts. The following research assistants carried out different research tasks, without which I would not be able to complete the book: Chan Kin Kai, Helena Kwong Hoi Yan, Alice Yeung Lai Shan, Yip Ling Yan, Carmen Yu Ka Man, and Yu To Ming. Thanks are due to the interviewees, many of them busy political practitioners, whose valuable views and information are vital to parts of this book. The most old-fashioned disclaimer still applies: for all the inadequacies, limitations and problems of this book, the responsibility is solely mine. Acronyms and Abbreviations AA Airport Authority ADPL Association for Democracy and People’s Livelihood ASPDMC Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China ATV Asia Television Limited BA Broadcast Authority BBC British Broadcasting Corporation BBS Bauhinia Star BLCC Basic Law Consultation Committee BLDC Basic Law Drafting Committee BORO Bill of Rights Ordinance CAB Constitutional Affairs Bureau CCP Chinese Communist Party CE Chief Executive CFA Court of Final Appeal CGLO Central Government Liaison Office CHRF Civil Human Rights Front CP Citizens’ Party CPPCC Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference CRC Cooperative Resource Center CRoP Committee on Rules of Procedure CSO Civil Society Organization CSSA Comprehensive Social Security Allowance CTU Confederation of Trade Unions CUHK Chinese University of Hong Kong DA District Advisors DAB Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong DB District Board DDO Disability Discrimination Ordinance
The list of books you might like
