Tommy Koh on Hong Kong: There's room for compromise, but the window is rapidly closing

He also shared 10 important facts about Hong Kong to help understand the situation better.

Zhangxin Zheng | October 10, 2019, 07:48 PM

Singapore Ambassador-at-Large Tommy Koh recently chaired the 32nd Tembusu Forum at the National University of Singapore on Monday (Oct. 7).

Closed-door forum on situation Hong Kong faces

Titled "The crisis in Hong Kong: the way forward", Koh, who is rector at Tembusu College, moderated a closed-door discussion with Li Xueying from the Straits Times, Professor Alfred Wu from the Lee Kuan Yew School and economics professor Donald Low from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

From it, Koh shared his opening statement on the college's website and Facebook, which in essence, lists the following facts he stated about Hong Kong's history:

10 facts about Hong Kong

Fact No. 1

The British defeated China in the Opium War of 1839 to 1842. Under the 1842 Treaty of Nanjing, the island of Hong Kong was ceded to the UK in perpetuity. After the second Opium War of 1856 to 1860, China ceded the Kowloon Peninsular to the British, in perpetuity, under the Convention of Peking.

Fact No. 2

China was defeated by Japan in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895. A weakened China was forced to lease the New Territories to the British for 99 years. The lease expired in 1997.

Fact No. 3

In 1984, the governments of China and the UK reached an agreement on the future of Hong Kong. The British agreed to return Hong Kong to China in 1997. The Chinese government agreed that the people of Hong Kong would enjoy the rights contained in the UN’s International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The text of the covenant is part of the domestic law of Hong Kong. Hong Kong would enjoy autonomy for 50 years under the policy of “one country, two systems”. The agreement between China and UK is contained in the 1984 China-UK Joint Declaration. The two principal architects of the agreement were Deng Xiaoping and Margaret Thatcher.

Fact No. 4

The political system in Hong Kong is contained in the Hong Kong Basic Law, which is the equivalent of Hong Kong’s Constitution. The Legislative Council of Hong Kong consists of two types of members. 50 per cent of the members, 35 of them, are popularly elected. The other half, another 35, are elected by functional constituencies, such as bankers, lawyers, manufacturers, educationists, etc. The Chief Executive is elected by an election committee consisting of 1,200 persons. Critics claim that the election committee consists mainly of pro-China individuals.

Fact No. 5

Under Article 31 of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region (SAR), a status which provides constitutional guarantees for implementing the policy of “one country, two systems”. Hong Kong’s Basic Law was approved by the National People’s Congress, in March 1990, and entered into force on 1 July 1997.

Fact No. 6

In 2003, the HKSAR government proposed to implement Article 23 of the Basic Law, by enacting a law against acts such as treason, subversion, secession and sedition. About 500,000 Hongkongers protested against the proposal. As a result, the Chief Executive, C H Tung, abandoned the proposal. He resigned as Chief Executive.

Fact No. 7

In 2005, the second Chief Executive, Donald Tsang, proposed that the 2017 election of the Chief Executive, and the 2020 Legislative Council Elections would be based upon universal suffrage. The proposal was, however, not accepted because of the public’s concern that the candidates for the post of Chief Executive, would have to go through a screening process controlled by Beijing.

Fact No. 8

In 2012, the Hong Kong government tried to push through a patriotic national education programme. The proposal was withdrawn due to strong opposition.

In September 2014, the so-called Yellow Umbrella Revolution led by students, erupted against a decision by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, on proposed electoral reform. The students demanded universal suffrage and genuinely free elections. The movement ended peacefully, after occupying Central Hong Kong for 79 days, but with no result.

Fact No. 9

In February 2019, the Legislative Council proposed a bill to amend extradition rights between Hong Kong and other countries. On 9 June and on 16 June, an estimated movement of 1 million and 2 million, respectively, protested peacefully against the bill. On 15 June 2019, Carrie Lam announced that the bill had been suspended. On 4 September 2019, she announced that the bill would be withdrawn. The protest movement has demanded her acceptance of their other four demands. She has refused to budge. The movement has been split between the majority, which is peaceful, and a minority, which is increasingly violent.

Fact No. 10

On 5 October 2019, Carrie Lam invoked a colonial-era law and banned the use of face masks in public gatherings. The result has been defiance and more violence.

What Hong Kong people want

In a Facebook post after the event, Koh also shared some insights on the situation in Hong Kong. Here, he observes, is what Hongkongers want:

1. They want universal suffrage and the right to choose their leaders in free elections.

2. They want China to honour and not undermine the policy of “one country, two systems”.

3. They don’t want to give China the right to veto candidates for election to the post of Chief Executive.

4. They want to preserve their identity as Hongkongers and their right to free speech and peaceful assembly.

5. They don’t want China to send agents into Hong Kong to kidnap people they don’t like.

6. They want Hong Kong to be a fairer society with affordable housing, good jobs and a government that is accountable to them.

What will happen to Hong Kong next?

Moving forward, Koh believes there is room for compromise, but the window to do so is rapidly closing and it would be helpful if Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam were to hold an independent inquiry, as what many critics have suggested.

Koh said that if there is no compromise, the protest situation could "end in bloodshed or in a prolonged period of unrest and resistance".

While the Hong Kong people might have lost faith in the use of peaceful demonstrations, Koh also pointed out that violence and infrastructural destruction "will not yield them the concessions they want".

Koh shared the same sentiments as Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam, noting that the Hong Kong crisis is a political issue that requires a political solution.

He also opined that the Hong Kong government as "irresponsible" to use their police to solve a political conundrum.

You can read his full post here:

Top photo collage by Sulaiman Daud (left) and from HKFP (right)

 

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