In December the group chose a new leader, who pledged to put the “D” back in DAB. “People in Hong Kong are so eager for a one-person, one-vote [system] because we are not satisfied with Tung’s government,” declares Ma Lik, a former journalist. “We believe in democracy. The purpose of an election system is to choose good government… which is why we must have a clear timetable for universal suffrage.”
Six years after Hong Kong reverted to Chinese rule, and a year into Tung’s second term, a real democracy debate has begun in Hong Kong, where until now the DAB has maintained Beijing’s line that people were more interested in having prosperity than votes. This is a significant shift within the territory, where anger at Tung’s dismal performance sparked massive street demonstrations last July 1 to protest a proposed anti-subversion law. And it could resonate across the Taiwan Strait, where Hong Kong has become a cautionary example of China’s one-country, two-systems model for unification. “People have become much more ready to discuss reform–which is the important first step,” says Christine Loh, an ex-lawmaker who now heads the independent Hong Kong think tank Civic Exchange. She adds, however, that “authorities [in Beijing] appear to be reticent.”
New survey data suggest they needn’t fear the ballot. Two scholars at the Chinese University of Hong Kong have noted that dissatisfaction with Tung’s administration does not extend to Chinese institutions like the People’s Liberation Army and leaders in Beijing. “Hong Kong people’s trust in the Chinese government has actually risen since 1997,” says Lam Wai-man, who co-authored a study called “Noises and Interruptions–The Road to Democracy.” “I would expect that worries about giving Hong Kong a greater degree of democracy would be eased.”
China has hinted at a change. When Tung visited Beijing recently, Chinese President Hu Jintao reportedly told him to “listen more closely to the masses”–a code phrase, some believe, urging more debate in the territory. The DAB now advocates a timetable for full democracy no later than 2017. One approach some members are proposing would have candidates screened. Opposition groups demand a one-person, one-vote system–and they don’t want to wait 14 years for it.
Taiwan is watching closely. Associates of former president Lee Teng-hui recently published a book that cast the territory’s current situation as Taiwan’s nightmare future. From Taipei’s vantage, the notion that Hong Kong’s prosperity is best served by stridently pro-Beijing leaders has been thoroughly discredited. Putting “D” into the equation would at least shake things up.
