Building Democracy: Creating Good Government for Hong Kong

Postscript

Christine฀Loh฀ On฀1฀July฀2003,฀a฀public฀holiday฀and฀the฀sixth฀anniversary฀of฀the฀HKSAR,฀half฀ a฀millio n฀Hon g฀Kon g฀resident s฀joine d฀a ฀protes t฀marc h฀agains t฀th e฀hasty฀ passage฀of฀the฀HKSAR฀Government's฀propose d฀nationa l฀security฀legislatio n฀ required฀under฀Article฀23฀of฀the฀Basic฀Law฀that฀was฀scheduled฀for฀passage฀in฀ the฀legislatur e฀o n฀9฀July.฀The฀number฀o f฀people฀wh o฀turne d฀ou t฀was฀ver y฀ much฀bigge r฀tha n฀anyon e฀ha d฀anticipated .฀The฀organiser s฀neve r฀expecte d฀ such฀an฀enormous฀showing .฀On฀the฀eve฀of฀the฀protest ,฀the฀Alliance฀Against฀ Article฀2 3฀and฀the฀Civil฀Huma n฀Right s฀Front ,฀whic h฀wer e฀mad e฀u p฀of฀an฀ assortment฀of฀NGOs,฀expected฀150,00 0฀to฀200,000฀peopl e฀to฀join฀in ,฀which฀ was฀alread y฀considere d฀a ฀very฀substantia l฀showing .฀However ,฀whe n฀som e฀ 7%฀of฀the฀population฀turned฀out฀on฀a฀hot฀and฀steamy฀day,฀the฀level฀of฀public฀ discontent฀could฀not฀be฀ignored.฀Indeed,฀such฀a฀large฀showing฀of฀discontent฀ with฀th e฀government฀cause d฀a n฀immediate฀credibilit y฀crisi s฀fo r฀the฀Tung฀ Chee-hwa฀Administration,฀which฀officials฀could฀not฀use฀"spin"฀to฀explain฀away.฀ The฀government฀was฀stunned.฀Indeed,฀so฀taken฀aback฀were฀Hong฀Kong's฀top฀ officials฀tha t฀the y฀coul d฀no t฀respond฀a t฀length฀unti l฀5 ฀July,฀when฀th e฀Chief฀ Executive฀announce d฀tha t฀th e฀governmen t฀woul d฀mak e฀thre e฀importan t฀ concessions฀in฀the฀draft฀legislation,฀but฀that฀the฀date฀for฀passage฀would฀be฀kept.฀ However,฀on฀6฀July,฀when฀Jame s฀Tien ,฀a฀member฀of฀the฀Executiv e฀Counci l฀ (ExCo)฀an d฀chairman฀of฀the฀Liberal฀Party ,฀which฀controlled฀eight฀votes฀in฀the฀ Legislative฀Council,฀handed฀in฀his฀resignation฀from฀ExCo,฀the฀Chief฀Executiv e฀ had฀no฀choice฀but฀to฀announce฀the฀withdrawal฀of฀the฀national฀security฀bill฀as฀he฀ could฀no฀longer฀be฀assured฀of฀winning฀the฀vote.฀Tien฀explained฀that :฀"It฀was฀ impossible฀that฀I฀vote฀for฀the฀resumption฀of฀the฀second฀reading฀on฀July฀9฀while฀ other฀members฀supported฀a฀deferral.฀As฀a฀party฀chief,฀I฀cannot฀use฀ExCo฀as฀a฀ shield฀to฀vote฀otherwise.฀Resigning฀was฀the฀only฀choice."1฀ Fung,฀Fanny ,฀"I฀Had฀No฀Other฀Choic e฀Bu t฀to฀Resign:฀Tien,"฀The ฀Standard,฀8 ฀July฀2003 ,฀A2.฀ Building฀Democrac y฀14 7฀ Postscript฀ Who฀wer e฀th e฀500,00 0฀people ?฀A฀survey฀conducte d฀b y฀the฀Universit y฀o f฀ Hong฀Kong' s฀Publi c฀Opinio n฀Programm e฀o f฀1,15 4฀marcher s฀foun d฀tha t฀ nearly฀60 %฀o f฀th e฀protester s฀ha d฀universit y฀education ;฀40 %฀wer e฀ professionals,฀60 %฀were฀considere d฀middl e฀class ,฀and฀mor e฀than฀80 %฀of฀ them฀wer e฀age d฀betwee n฀2 0฀an d฀50 .฀Almos t฀90 %฀o f฀the m฀wer e฀ disappointed฀with฀the฀government's฀performanc e฀and฀felt฀that฀they฀neede d฀ to฀show฀their฀discontent฀so฀they฀could฀make฀their฀voices฀heard.฀More฀than฀ 80%฀of฀them฀also฀thought฀the฀Chief฀Executiv e฀should฀step฀down.฀Another฀ survey฀conducted฀after฀1 ฀July฀found฀that฀77%฀of฀the฀respondents฀oppose d฀ the฀passin g฀o f฀th e฀bil l฀o n฀9 ฀July ,฀wit h฀onl y฀10 %฀backin g฀passag e฀a s฀ originally฀set. 2฀ On฀9฀July,฀even฀though฀the฀HKSA R฀Governmen t฀ha d฀already฀deferred฀th e฀ national฀securit y฀bill ,฀30,000-50,00 0฀peopl e฀stil l฀gathere d฀aroun d฀th e฀ Legislative฀Counci l฀Buildin g฀i n฀the฀evenin g฀t o฀cal l฀for฀the฀Chie f฀Executiv e฀ to฀ste p฀dow n฀an d฀fo r฀a ฀faste r฀pac e฀o f฀democrati c฀reform .฀O n฀1 3฀July ,฀ 15,000-20,000฀peopl e฀gathere d฀a t฀th e฀sam e฀spo t฀t o฀specificall y฀cal l฀fo r฀ universal฀suffrag e฀i n฀the฀electio n฀o f฀the฀Chie f฀Executiv e฀an d฀all฀member s฀ of฀the฀legislature.฀Despite฀the฀clear฀message฀that฀Hong฀Kong฀people฀would฀ like฀t o฀participat e฀i n฀electin g฀thei r฀governmen t฀a t฀th e฀nex t...