Editor’s note: This is the last of a four-part series on the far-reaching significance of the National Security Law for Hong Kong and the special administrative region’s electoral reforms. The four commentaries will be included in the upcoming new edition of the author’s 16-article book on the “one country, two systems” principle, which was first published in May 2020.
The Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region sets the ultimate goal of achieving universal suffrage in both the chief executive and Legislative Council elections in a gradual and orderly fashion; while in Annex I and Annex II of the Basic Law, a more-specific method of selecting the chief executive and LegCo members, for up to the year of 2007 only, is given, with a set of procedures for future amendment when necessary.
The most important criterion in rating electoral systems is whether it suits a particular country or region the best. The best way to know if a shoe fits is to wear it. When evaluating Hong Kong’s electoral system, the key determinants are “one country, two systems” and Hong Kong’s actual situation, rather than any existing model copied from the West
The opposition camp in Hong Kong betted everything on achieving universal suffrage in both elections immediately by resorting to all means imaginable and blamed all the problems Hong Kong has on the absence of “one person one vote”. But the model they insisted on is way off the kind of electoral system that suits Hong Kong the best under the “one country, two systems” policy.
Deng Xiaoping, when discussing the political and electoral systems for Hong Kong back in the day, refused to believe the assertion that universal suffrage suits Hong Kong no matter what. Those who administer Hong Kong should be locals who love the motherland and Hong Kong equally. But can anyone guarantee universal suffrage alone will return such administrators? He said, “We must choose a system and governance model for ourselves in full respect to our real situation and characteristics.” Hong Kong’s system must not be completely Westernized or copy the Western model directly. “If Hong Kong copies the Western model no matter what, it will suffer a lot when social unrest happens.”
There is no international standard for an electoral system. For example, those of the United States and United Kingdom are different. The United Nations published in 1994 a handbook on the basic international human rights principles relating to elections, which is titled Human Rights and Elections: A Handbook on the Legal, Technical and Human Rights Aspects of Elections. In that handbook, the UN human rights body states that there is no political system or electoral method that works for all people or all countries, and it objects to any attempt to impose an existing political model on any society.
The most important criterion in rating electoral systems is whether it suits a particular country or region the best. The best way to know if a shoe fits is to wear it. When evaluating Hong Kong’s electoral system, the key determinants are “one country, two systems” and Hong Kong’s actual situation, rather than any existing model copied from the West.
Hong Kong’s electoral system must meet two conditions. The first is its constitutional order. Hong Kong is a special administrative region of a unitary state, and its elections are regional events that must be designed with the relationship between the SAR and the central government as well as national interest and security in mind. That means it cannot be modeled after the electoral systems of sovereign states. Given its constitutional order as a special administrative region, it is only natural for Hong Kong to make sure only true patriots are elected to administer the SAR. The other one is Hong Kong’s actual situation. That means Hong Kong’s constitutional development must proceed in a gradual and orderly fashion according to the Basic Law, let the democratic process evolve harmoniously with its social development as the actual situation permits, and prevent a harmful rush to extreme democracy. The HKSAR’s electoral system should facilitate balanced participation by all sectors of society, so as to benefit economic development and social stability. It must help enhance executive-legislative relations, strengthen the executive-led administration as stipulated by the Basic Law, and achieve good governance.
The opposition camp in Hong Kong insists on taking “universal and equal suffrage”, which is mentioned in Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as the international standard for democratic elections. They could have easily hoodwinked people with their dazzling banners or slogans. The fact is, Article 25 of the International Covenant merely lists three principles without specifying any methods of election. Besides, the UK government declared back in 1976 that it reserved the right not to implement in Hong Kong the principles contained in Article 25 of the International Covenant. The Chinese government chose to continue this practice after Hong Kong returned to the motherland in July 1997.
The Basic Law of the HKSAR not only sets the ultimate goal of achieving universal suffrage in both the chief executive and LegCo elections, following a gradual and orderly process, but also establishes the constitutional order of Hong Kong and stipulates the conditions for universal suffrage. It is unacceptable to justify the ultimate goal of electoral reform with the Basic Law but discuss methods of election without referring to the Basic Law. The new electoral system after improvement earlier this year, in accordance with new amendments to Annex I and Annex II of the Basic Law, is a reconstruction and optimization of the existing system that is in line with the current stage of democratic development in Hong Kong. As it progresses toward universal suffrage, the HKSAR must always stick to “one country, two systems” in pursuit of democracy with Hong Kong characteristics.
The author is a veteran current affairs commentator.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.