Hong Kong Chief Executive Unopposed in Pretend Election

The former British Crown colony of Hong Kong was handed over to the communist dictatorship in Beijing under the pretense of “one country, two systems,” but recent events in Hong Kong proved what a load of nonsense that is. Nominations for the job of Chief Executive closed at 5 pm local time on June 15, and by 5.30 the same day, Donald Tsang had been named the winner of the “election.” Now, Hong Kong’s government is as illegitimate as the one misruling the rest of the People’s Republic of China.

Direct elections by the people of Hong Kong just don’t happen. The Legislative Council that was “elected” back in September had 30 of its seats filled by popular ballot and the rest by “functional constituencies,” which means picked by professions and others beholden to Beijing. And when the former Chief Executive, billionaire Tung Chee-hwa resigned, it was not because he lost the support of the people but because he had lost the support of the people who matter in Beijing.

The selection of Mr. Tsang, who is a Catholic and has a knighthood for his service to Hong Kong as a bureaucrat before the Union Jack came down for good, will not be for a full five years but rather to complete the remaining 2 years of Mr. Tung’s term. This gives the Beijing government a chance to try Mr. Tsang out before installing him for longer. And if he doesn’t work out (that is, if he doesn’t follow Communist Party demands), the government will be spared the trouble of forcing him out.

But the real problem is what passes for an election in the “special administrative region.” Chairman of the Hong Kong Electoral Affairs Commission Woo Kwok-hing lied when he said, “The election was conducted in an open, fair and honest manner.” But the world quickly moved on as if it didn’t matter. Mr. Tsang stated on the day he got a new job, “Now the election is over, we will be able to come together, joining hands and working towards the best interest of Hong Kong. Let us unite as one heart and one mind, let us restore social harmony, and let us work together for the better future of Hong Kong.”

It may be that democracy does not require every nation in the world to follow a Washington or Westminster model for electing leaders. But it is definitely true that an uncontested election with a half-hour between the closing of nominations and the announcement of the result cannot reflect the will of the people except by random chance. Democracy is not on the march.


© Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
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