Electing Hong Kong's Chief Executive

3 - Significance of the Election Committee in Hong Kong and Mainland China

3 Significance of the Election Committee in Hong Kong and Mainland China1 1 Introduction In Chapter 2, we explained the basic operation of the several ECs established, in accordance with the Basic Law, since 1997. We also examined the creation and operation of the pre-1997 forerunner of the EC, the Selection Committee. In order to understand the genesis of this crucial electoral college system in Hong Kong more clearly, we provided an initial outline of the development of Hong Kong’s unusual political structure. In this chapter we review, in more detail, the constitutional and wider political significance of the EC in the HKSAR.2 We begin with a short review of some further political-economic context followed by an outline of the evolution of the system of executive government in Hong Kong. Next, we examine the relationship between the 1. This chapter repeats discussion and arguments in earlier work by Richard Cullen. 2. By constitutional significance we mean the importance of the EC within the basic constitutional framework in the HKSAR. At the core of this framework is the Basic Law. Other components in this framework, arising from the operation of the Basic Law, include the 1991 Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance (Cap. 383) and certain rights-protecting international treaties which apply in the HKSAR. The Constitution of the People’s Republic of China (1982) is also a component in this framework, although its precise status and role remain matters of debate. For further discussion on these various components, see Ghai, Yash, Hong Kong’s New Constitutional Order (2nd ed.) (Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong, 1999) chapters, 3, 4, 7, 8 & 10;, Chen, Albert H.Y., An Introduction to the Legal System of the People’s Republic of China (3rd ed.) (Butterworths, Singapore. 2004) and Fu, H.L. and Cullen, R., “Chinese Constitutionalism: Will Politics Always Trump Law” in Jagtenburg and deRoo (eds), 1998–99 (4) Year Book of Law and Legal Practice - East Asia (Kluwer Law, Amsterdam,1999). By wider political significance we mean the way the EC interacts within the full political reality of the HKSAR, including the way it interrelates with the electoral system, the executive, legislature and judiciary and with the media, political parties and civil society, generally. 30 Electing Hong Kong’s Chief Executive EC and the operation of the executive in Hong Kong.3 We then consider the association between the EC and LegCo. Finally, we review the ways in which the EC relates to certain key aspects of the Hong Kong – Beijing relationship. The assessment below is still, essentially, a précis. A full treatment of issues addressed beneath requires more space than is available here.4 2 Political-Economic Synopsis5 Despite the lack of democratic development noted in Chapter 2, Hong Kong was allowed, post World War II, to develop, under British rule, into probably the freest society in East Asia. The press and the media generally were able to flourish6 and the rule of law, implemented primarily through an independent judiciary, put down deep roots.7 Politically, Hong Kong remained comparatively stable in the decades after World War II. For a time in the mid-1960s, Hong Kong was rocked by an unprecedented level of rioting and violent politics, centred around protests over fare increases on the Star Ferry. The immense political disruption on the Mainland engendered by the start of the Cultural Revolution also heightened political tensions in Hong Kong at around this time.8 This sort of elevated political instability has been the exception rather than the norm, however.9 3. We use the term executive as a shorthand expression to encompass all the operating institutions of the HKSAR Government (not including those public institutions clearly separate from the executive including, LegCo, the judiciary, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) and the Audit Commission). 4. The literature on Hong Kong’s political development is extensive. Useful further detailed coverage can be found, for example, in: Chen, Albert H.Y., “The Development of Representative Government in Hong Kong” in Chan and Lim (Eds.) Hong Kong’s Constitutional Law (forthcoming) (draft chapter on file with authors); Ghai, supra; Miners, Norman, The Government and Politics of Hong Kong (5th ed.) (Oxford University Press, Hong Kong, 1991); Sing, Ming, Hong Kong’s Tortuous Democratization (RoutledgeCurzon, London, 2004); Tsang, Steve, A Modern History of Hong Kong (Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong, 2004); and Ma Ngok, Political Development in Hong Kong: State, Political Society, and Civil Society (Hong Kong University Press...