Hong Kong is one of the most culturally diverse and booming economic centres in Asia. It is a major tourist destination, with over 30 million visitors annually, a majority of them from mainland China. It is a city rife with opportunities, attracting people from across the world, and thus possessing a varied demographic.
However, what sets Hong Kong apart from other Asian metropolises is the unique political structure it possesses. Hong Kong was under British colonial rule until July 1, 1997, when its control was handed over to the People’s Republic of China. However, unlike other mainland Chinese cities, Hong Kong has a status of a ‘special administrative region’, and follows a policy of ‘one country, two systems’. This implies that Hong Kong is not directly under the purview of the Communist Party of China, but rather operates under a pseudo-capitalistic democracy. As a result, citizens of Hong Kong enjoy freedoms such as freedom of speech, unlike their mainland Chinese counterparts.
In the recent past, worries have grown stronger among residents of Hong Kong regarding their continued status of relative freedom. These worries stem from the fact that state controlled media seems to be slowly taking over the city, and that Beijing’s stance against Hong Kong has become more aggressive than usual. There has also been anger against Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying (leader of Hong Kong), for various economic and political reasons. The Chief Executive has always been hand-picked by the Chinese government, and has to fulfil the requirement of ‘loving the country’ before anything else. As a response to this, a mock referendum on election reform was held by activists toward the end of June, in a lead-up to the annual July 1 protests. This referendum witnessed a promisingly high turnout of nearly 800,000 people, showing that Hong Kong residents are ready to take matters into their own hands. The July 1 protests also saw an encouraging turnout of over 500,000 (according to organisers of the protest), although police pegged the number closer to a 100,000. Hope and passions were high as thousands of protestors, a majority of them students, clogged the streets of the Central business district. Many have said that this is the highest turnout for the protests Hong Kong has ever seen. Unlike past years, the police showed less restraint, sometimes even physically dragging protestors away into waiting police vans to arrest them. Organisers of the protest hope to have direct elections scheduled for 2017, and plan to escalate the protests if Beijing does not comply. Hong Kong residents have become jaded by Beijing’s past promises of full democracy, and coupling this with their general animosity toward mainland Chinese, it is understandable why such a high turnout was seen in this year’s protests.
There are many reasons why it is heartening to see such a widespread movement for democracy in Hong Kong. The fate of Hong Kong could directly affect that of Taiwan and Macau, whose situations are very similar to that of Hong Kong. Hong Kong’s relative autonomy has so far helped the region retain its culture, language, religions and history. In the long run, if things work out, we might even see the day when grassroots movements in China gain enough momentum to establish a functioning democracy in the mainland. Until then, Hong Kong should count every small victory it has, and hope that with enough momentum and international exposure, they can peacefully transition into a functioning democracy.
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