Sunday's Election Key in Movement Toward Universal Suffrage in Hong Kong

HONG KONG — Hong Kong voters go to the polls Sunday with their government mired in controversy, not least for the attempt this week to force “national education classes” on school children.  With more seats in the legislature being decided on the basis of one-person-one-vote, the city’s pro-Beijing administration faces a challenging future as democrats look to make electoral gains before the anticipated introduction of universal suffrage in 2017.

Thousands of protesters turn out outside government headquarters in Hong Kong, September 7, 2012, to protest against the government's plan to introduce a new subject "Moral and National Education" into a new curriculum.       

Sunday’s election in Hong Kong will see over half of the legislature’s 70 seats returned by universal suffrage, the remainder by generally pro-Beijing groups.

The vote is likely to prove a defining moment for the city’s new leader, chief executive Leung Chun-ying.

“Things have been going terribly for him.  He is now caught up in this national education controversy," said China analyst Frank Ching. "He canceled his trip to Russia for the APEC meeting, suggesting he realizes there is a crisis which he must stay to handle.  But I do not see him doing anything.”

With anti-China sentiment growing in the former British colony, thousands of children and their parents remain camped outside government headquarters, some on a hunger strike.

They vow to remain until Leung cancels patriotism classes introduced in schools this week to promote loyalty and love for communist China.

The education stand-off is an embarrassment both for Leung and the central government in Beijing as it moves toward a leadership change.

President Hu Jintao, during a visit in July, appealed to residents to maintain unity with China as distrust of Beijing rose to levels not seen since British rule ended in 1997.

The popularity of the chief executive also has been harmed by increased corruption among politicians, as well as resentment over Hong Kong’s wealth gap, which is the widest in the developed world.

Leung’s position is not under direct threat at the ballot box - he entered office scarcely three months ago, appointed by a commission of less than 2,000 citizens, most of them pro-Beijing.

However, politics professor Michael DeGolyer of Hong Kong Baptist University says Leung's problems could boost support for pro-democracy groups.

“He has to work with these folks, who push very hard for more democracy," he said. "It is going to be extremely difficult, I think.  It is pretty clear, for the first time, that we are not going to have [pro-Beijing factions win] a reliable majority.”

Under the terms of Hong Kong's return to Chinese sovereignty, residents enjoy greater civil liberties than do mainland residents.  And Hong Kong people have long fought for an expanded political franchise.  After rolling protests, China’s National People’s Congress indicated in 2007 that full universal suffrage could be introduced in the city before the election of Leung’s successor in 2017.

But any chance of electing every legislator on the principle of one-person-one-vote could be blocked on Sunday if pro-Beijing parties manage to capture some of the one-third of seats held by democrats.

Margaret Ng is a legislator. “This proposal for 2017 will have to be put before the legislative council in the next couple of years, and that is why this election is crucial,” she said.

China remains vague on the details of the shift toward universal suffrage.  However, as an interim step, Sunday’s election adds five new seats to the legislature.  Lam Wai Man, a politics professor at Hong Kong University, explains that all voters can cast ballots for these so-called “super seats.”

“If you are elected, this really means you are one of the five most popular politicians in Hong Kong.  These people will have greater chance to compete in future chief executive elections - if they are [ever decided by] universal suffrage,” said Lam.

While the victors could one day challenge the chief executive for his job, Mr. Leung is already fighting back, announcing a raft of initiatives in recent days to shore up support for himself and the pro-Beijing parties.

Among them is a deal with Beijing to slow the number of Chinese visitors to Hong Kong, and a plan to slow the rise in housing prices.  Late Friday night, Leung also invited students and parents to join him in discussing the future of Chinese patriotism in Hong Kong schools.

VOA

Hong Kong Protests Intensify Over Communist Classes for Kids

HONG KONG — In Hong Kong, demonstrations are escalating against the introduction of patriotism classes aimed at teaching school children history and the ideology of the Chinese Communist Party. Residents of the former British colony are fearful implementation of the curriculum signals China's intent to extend its control over the semi-autonomous city.   

Thousands of parents and children gathered outside government headquarters across Hong Kong, protesting the launch of a "national education" program in city schools, September 3, 2012. (VOA - I. Broadhead)

The first day of the Hong Kong school year ended Monday with 8,000 parents and children demonstrating outside government headquarters. Dressed head to toe in black, they were protesting the launch of a national education program in city schools.

The curriculum's objectives were outlined in a recent government-funded pamphlet entitled The China Model, which vaunts the Chinese Communist Party, glosses over events, including the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, and describes multi-party democracy as malignant.

Patriotism classes begin

Although not mandatory until 2015, six junior schools began patriotism classes this week. Retired teacher James Hon is one of 10 members of the Alliance against National Education who vow to remain on a hunger strike until the pro-Beijing government cancels what they consider a program to "brainwash" school children.

"With the implementation of a brainwashing curriculum, our children will grow up like those in China who dare not speak their hearts, unable to distinguish right and wrong, who become blind patriots. That is what Hong Kong people are worried about," said Hon.

The city's number two administrator, Chief Secretary Carrie Lam, disagrees with the criticism. She told a news conference that the curriculum's objectives are commendable and that fears of brainwashing are ill-founded.

"The question cannot be simplified to whether the government is prepared to withdraw this subject. The focus should be to ensure teaching will achieve its desired objective: to nurture our younger generation to have the right attitude toward their family, society, and [to] know about the country," said Lam.

​Hong Kong residents dissent

Hong Kong returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. Under the principle of "One Country, Two Systems," the city's 7 million residents enjoy social and political freedoms unknown elsewhere in China.

Professor Michael DeGolyer, of Hong Kong Baptist University, sees the national education issue affecting legislative elections being held on Sunday in Hong Kong. However, he cannot say whether national education classes could yet be scrapped. He insists the issue goes deeper than just this week's election, raising the specter of the period preceding Hong Kong's return to Chinese sovereignty, when 10 percent of the population moved overseas fearful of life under communist rule.  

"People were willing to take years out of their lives, and families were willing to be split apart in order to get the insurance of a foreign passport, just in case. That fire has been fully re-lit and it is not going to go out," said DeGolyer.

Late Monday night, crowds remained outside the steel skyscraper that is government headquarters. They called for government chief, Leung Chun-ying, to address them. Leung refused; instead inviting protesters Tuesday to join a committee to manage the curriculum’s implementation.

Two years after patriotism classes were first proposed by former government Chief Executive Donald Tsang, ordinary Hong Kong families insist they are prepared for a long battle. Protests in 2003 against similarly unpopular national security legislation ultimately helped topple the city's leadership.

VOA