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Determined in our own path toward democracy
The Legislation Council (LegCo) General Election has been orderly completed in accordance to the law, and 90 LegCo members were elected under intense competition. I congratulate all the winning candidates on their success. I would also like to express my gratitude to all the citizens who casted their votes in the election, as well as everyone who participated and supported the election exercise.
This election is of significant importance as it is the first LegCo election held after the implementation of Hong Kong National Security Law and the enhancement of the electoral system. It marks the successful implementation of the improved electoral system and the “patriots administering Hong Kong” principle. People from different strata, sectors or professional backgrounds competed fairly and justly in the election. It paved the way for Hong Kong’s good governance and laid a solid foundation for the faithful and steady implementation of the “One Country, Two Systems” arrangement.
Looking back in history, there was basically no democracy in Hong Kong under the British colonial ruling. The British side only pushed forward the so-called “political reform” shortly before our Country’s resumption of sovereignty over Hong Kong, with a view to sustaining its influence here. It is indeed only after our return to the Motherland that Hong Kong has truly entered into a new phase towards democracy.
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From establishing the principle of “One Country, Two Systems”, “Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong and high degree of autonomy”, to the building of Hong Kong’s democracy in accordance to the Constitution and Basic Law, the Central Government has always been supporting the democratic development of Hong Kong. Three important attempts have been made in the past with the last one held in 2014, which aimed to set out the road map towards universal suffrage of the Chief Executive. This proposal to further democratise Hong Kong’s constitutional system was unfortunately vetoed by the so called democratic legislators.
The centennial changes of the global situation is accelerating, and foreign interferences with an attempt to disturb and hinder the development of China are building up. As both the domestic and foreign environment becoming ever more complicated, the struggle revolving Hong Kong’s democratic development had intensified. As a consequence, some people had used the anti-extradition law incident as an excuse to spark the riot in 2019, which fundamentally went against the bottom-line of the “One Country, Two Systems” principle, endangering the national and Hong Kong’s security.
In face of foreign political intervention and disturbance, the Central Government had decisively enacted and implemented the Hong Kong National Security Law to lift Hong Kong out from chaos and restored stability and governance in our society, providing the necessary conditions for democratic development. The LegCo election on Sunday was a lively example to this point, from which we could see all the election related activities were conducted smoothly in a safe environment.
The implementation of Hong Kong National Security Law, the improvement of the electoral system and the oath-taking requirement for public servants all aimed at consolidating the principle of “patriots administering Hong Kong” at the institutional level, ensuring the governing authority is firmly held in the hands of patriots. Through this, the governing system can then be focused on serving public interests and prevent foreign agents from entering the system and using it as a platform to harm the national and Hong Kong’s interests for the benefits of other countries.
The improved electoral system has expanded political participation in a balanced and orderly manner, enhanced the representativeness of the Election Committee and the LegCo, and safeguarded the fundamental overall interests of Hong Kong. It can also promote the virtuous interaction between the executive and the legislative branches, resolving the long term political standstill of the LegCo. With the implementation of the executive-led system and good governance, the SAR Government and different sectors of the society could focus on economic development and improving people’s livelihoods.
Perhaps some people who are enchanted with the Western-style democracy may still doubt Hong Kong’s steady democratic development. Some foreign politicians even took the LegCo election as an opportunity to criticise and downgrade Hong Kong’s democratic development, using it as a handle to hinder our Country’s development.
In fact, our Country’s democratic system and institutional strength have contributed to the continuous improvement of people’s livelihoods and satisfaction, reflecting the failure of the western system which is unable to resolve the actual difficulties faced by the people in daily lives. Under the mounting pressure from local politics, politicians would only try to shed their responsibility by diverting people’s attention.
As we can see from foreign examples, there were cases from time to time that the winning political party failed to honour the promises they had made during election. People’s actual needs and social development interests were compromised or even sacrificed amid political struggle. The Western-style democracy is not able to address social dilemmas and deep-seated problems. Even worse, it exacerbated the problems and social inequality, and stirred up populism.
In fact, democratic development should not only emphasises on its “quantity” but also the “quality”. The ultimate parameter for assessment should be the outcome, i.e. whether the system can address people’s aspiration for a better livelihood. In other words, voting and other related procedures only reflect part of the democracy. What we should focus on is the outcome that can be achieved from the democratic process. Any democratic development and system could only gain wide and solid support from the people if they can lead to continuous improvement of people’s livelihoods.
Our Country is walking on the development path of socialism with Chinese characteristics and implementing the “whole-process democracy”. The system emphasises on expanding people’s political participation in an orderly manner, enhancing the democratic process, and complementing elections with negotiations. It ensures people’s right of democratic election, negotiation, decision, management and monitor in accordance to the law. With the implementation of the “whole-process democracy”, outside elections, the Government’s policy-making and governance are also put under democratic management and monitor, which allows negotiation and expression of views on important issues while helping the society to stay united.
Our Country’s national institution and management model has enabled its sustainable and stable development, and supported our Country to grow stronger towards prosperity, with people’s livelihoods remarkably improved. The Country is heading towards the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Safeguarding the national security is the prerequisite of stability and development.
Our Country’s national institution and management, together with the framework built under the Constitution and the Basic Law, set out the principle and path for Hong Kong’s democratic development, allowing Hong Kong’s smooth return to the Motherland, promoting Hong Kong’s prosperous economic development and providing the basic guidance for Hong Kong to achieve stable democratic development. We must be determined in walking on the path of democratic development which best suits Hong Kong’s actual situation. Only by fully safeguarding the national interests of “One Country” could we enjoy the flexibility of “Two Systems”. Only by ensuring a stable social and economic environment could we be equipped with the space and resources to pursue a democratic system with our own characteristics that can best suit Hong Kong’s actual situation.
With the resolute, full and faithful implementation of the “One Country, Two Systems” and “patriots administering Hong Kong” principles, we could see a bright future for Hong Kong’s democratic development. The ending chapter of the white paper on "Hong Kong: Democratic Progress under the Framework of One Country, Two Systems” issued by the State Council Information Office lately, as quoted below, provides us with the confidence in Hong Kong’s future development:
“The implementation of ‘One Country, Two Systems’ in Hong Kong has achieved a great success, showing a strong adaptability and institutional resilience. The Communist Party of China and the Chinese Government have the confidence, wisdom and capability not only to well manage and promote development in the Mainland with socialism, but also well manage and promote development in Hong Kong with capitalism, also promote Hong Kong’s democratic development in accordance to the actual situation.”
Let us join hands to work hard together for a brighter future of Hong Kong!
22 December 2021
