Leung Chun-ying and his wife Regina celebrating his victory Photo: AP
“Hong Kong’s election of a new chief executive Sunday was a mess — a travesty in which the 1,132 handpicked voters were outnumbered by demonstrators who were kept away from the assembly with pepper spray. The winner, Leung Chun-ying, was muscled through by pressure from Beijing despite his unpopularity with the local business elite. As for the general population, an online poll in which 220,000 people took part recorded 54 per cent for none of the candidates, followed by 17 per cent for Leung.” Read more…
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I guess I have started making my blog become on China rather than on democracy since last week (or earlier?)…but I cannot help….especially after last Sunday when the prime minister of Hong Kong (my home) was elected mostly because of his support from the CCP.
Hong Kong is a democracy, which “allows free speech and assembly but not free elections.” The 7millions citizens of Hong Kong not only have no right to vote, but also have no say in the election. This is because the election committee is composed of tycoons and business elites….Meanwhile, any candidates who wish to be on the ballot need to attain the CCP’s approval. What it means is that common citizens barely have the chance to run for PM, even if they have massive public support and impressive political skills.
Until now I am still so disheartening….as someone who really wants to do some good to my community, I have become more and more discouraged from dabbling in Hong Kong’s politics, which has appeared to be increasingly integrated into the CCP.
Although I believe that colonialism should end (in fact it should never have existed!) and I am a proud Chinese who is glad that China has got back its own territory – Hong Kong, sometimes I am reminiscent of those days when we were under British rule. Those days, our city was more elegant and vibrant both domestically and internationally…now everything seems to be falling apart………
I know, I am being ambivalent.
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I found your opinion about colonialism and the changes that China and Hong Kong have been through very interesting. I also agree with you that although colonialism should never have existed, there are still some good things about it, and I am really glad you bring it up with examples that contain adjectives like “elegant and vibrant” I think most people tend to forget the benefits and the good things that for example the British brought to different cultures in the wold.