Anniversary for Hong Kong
On Sunday it will be 10 years since Britain turned Hong Kong over to China, and contrary to what many feared back then, the territory has largely maintained the high degree of autonomy Beijing promised to respect under its formula of "one country, two systems." Much of the credit for this belongs not to the reflexively authoritarian party bosses in Beijing, but to the people of Hong Kong, who've not been afraid to take to the streets in the hundreds of thousands when they've sensed a threat to their independence.
If Hong Kong's liberties are to survive another 10 years, its people will have to maintain the same kind of vigilance. With China stubbornly refusing to set a timetable for fully democratic elections to the territory's legislature, street marches will remain an indispensable vehicle for political expression. To be fair, the British failed to institute democracy in the 155 years they ran Hong Kong, but it was stipulated in the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law that covered the transfer of sovereignty to China.
Prosperity has also helped keep Hong Kong on a steady, conservative course. The territory now has more than 67,000 millionaires and 21 billionaires, out of a population of less than seven million. That kind of prosperity doesn't create a huge demand for change. In fact, some of the strongest pressure to maintain the current system, under which only half the members of the Hong Kong legislature are directly elected, comes from powerful local business groups which prefer to keep power in the hands of a very few.
Remembering the fears that accompanied the handover in 1997, today's Hong Kong has much to celebrate on this anniversary: the rule of law still largely holds, the economy was strong enough to weather the SARS epidemic and the Asian financial crash, the city remains among the most exciting in Asia. The success is not an argument for delaying full self-rule; on the contrary, it is proof that the people of the "fragrant harbor" are ready to take full charge of their affairs. China must not let another decade pass before letting it happen.
