Politics of Hong Kong
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Politics of Hong Kong takes place in a framework of a political system dominated by China, its own legislature, the Chief Executive as the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government.
On July 1, 1997, Hong Kong returned to Chinese control, when the sovereignty of Hong Kong was transferred to the People's Republic of China (PRC), ending more than 150 years of British colonial rule. Hong Kong became a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the PRC with a high degree of autonomy in all matters except foreign and defence affairs. According to the Sino-British Joint Declaration (1984) and the Basic Law – Hong Kong's mini-constitution – for at least 50 years after transition Hong Kong will retain its political, economic, and judicial systems and unique way of life and continue to participate in international agreements and organisations as a dependent territory. For instance, the International Olympic Committee recognises Hong Kong as a participating dependency under the name, "Hong Kong, China", separate from the People's Republic of China.
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[edit] Overview
In accordance with Article 31 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong has Special Administrative Region status, which provides constitutional guarantees for implementing the policy of "one country, two systems".[1] The government is economically very liberal and is rather democratic but with limited suffrage for special elections. The head of government (the Chief Executive of Hong Kong) is elected not directly but through an electoral college which is partially appointed with the rest elected in special elections with limited suffrage. The Basic Law, Hong Kong's constitutional document, was approved in March 1990 by National People's Congress of the PRC.
On the other hand, the legal system of Hong Kong is generally based on the English common law system. The current legal system will stay in force until at least 30 June 2047.
All permanent residents over 18 years of age are eligible to vote in direct elections for the 30 seats representing geographical constituencies in the 60-seat Legislative Council. However, eligibility for certain indirect elections is limited to about 180,000 voters in 28 functional constituencies (composed of business and professional sectors), and the Chief Executive is elected by an 800-member electoral college drawn mostly from the voters in the functional constituencies but also from religious organisations and municipal and central government bodies.
[edit] Government
The Chief Executive is the head of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China and the executive branch. The Chief Executive is elected in a small-circle election by 800 electors; the Executive Council is entirely appointed by the Chief Executive. Since May 2008, an additional layer of political appointees was appointed by the Government.
The legislative branch is the unicameral Legislative Council (LegCo). The judicial branch consists of a series of courts, of which the court of final adjudication is the Court of Final Appeal. Hong Kong is represented in the National People's Congress by a delegation which is elected by a special electoral committee.
[edit] Major political issues in recent years
[edit] Right of Abode
On 29 January 1999, the Court of Final Appeal, the highest judicial authority in Hong Kong interpreted several Articles of the Basic Law, in such a way that the Government estimated would allow 1.6 million Mainland China immigrants to enter Hong Kong within ten years. This caused widespread concerns among the public on the social and economic consequences.
While some in the legal sector advocated that the National People's Congress (NPC) should be asked to amend the part of the Basic Law to redress the problem, the HKSAR Government decided to seek an interpretation to, rather than an amendment of, the relevant Basic Law provisions from the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC). The NPCSC issued an interpretation in favour of the Hong Kong Government in June 1999, thereby overturning parts of the court decision. While the full powers of NPCSC to interpret the Basic Law is provided for in the Basic Law itself, some critics argues this undermines judicial independence.
[edit] July 1st marches and Article 23
The July 1 protests are a series of marches held yearly. These range from opposition to the anti-subversion legislation, dissatisfaction with the Hong Kong Government, fear of the loss of freedom of speech, rallying against actions of the Pro-Beijing camp, fighting for greater democracy, to anything in between.
In 2003, the HKSAR Government proposed to implement Article 23 of the Basic Law by legislating against acts such as treason, subversion, secession and sedition.[2] However, there were concerns that the legislation might infringe on human rights. Some are also worried that the legislation might introduce the mainland's concept of national security into the HKSAR via the proposed power of proscribing organisations that endanger the security of the state. General dissatisfaction with the Tung administration led to the 1 July protests in 2003. About 500,000 people participated in this protest.[3] The article was shelved with the topic resurfacing in the 2007 Hong Kong Island by-election.
[edit] Universal suffrage
Towards the end of 2003, the focus of political controversy shifted to the dispute of how subsequent Chief Executives get elected. The Basic Law's Article 45 stipulates that the ultimate goal is universal suffrage; when and how to achieve that goal, however, remains open but controversial. Under the Basic Law, electoral law could be amended to allow for this as soon as 2007 (Hong Kong Basic Law Annex .1, Sect.7). Arguments over this issue seemed to be responsible for a series of Mainland Chinese newspapers commentaries in February 2004 which stated that power over Hong Kong was only fit for "patriots."
The interpretation of the NPCSC to Annex I and II of the Basic Law, promulgated on April 6, 2004, made it clear that the National People's Congress' support is required over proposals to amend the electoral system under Basic Law. On April 26, 2004, the Standing Committee of National People's Congress denied the possibility of universal suffrage in 2007 (for the Chief Executive) and 2008 (for LegCo).
The NPCSC interpretation and decision were regarded as obstacles to the democratic development of Hong Kong by the democratic camp, and were criticized for lack of consultation with Hong Kong residents. On the other hand, the pro-government camp considered them to be in compliance with the legislative intent of the Basic Law and in line with the One country, two systems principle, and hoped that this would put an end to the controversies on development of political structure in Hong Kong.
In 2007 Chief Executive Donald Tsang requested for Beijing to allow direct elections for the Chief Executive. He referred to a survey which said more than half of the citizens of Hong Kong wanted direct elections by 2012. However, he said waiting for 2017 may be the best way to get two-thirds of the support of Legislative Council.[4]
The NPC replied that it would consider holding the 2017 Chief Executive elections and the 2020 Legislative Council elections by universal suffrage.[5]
[edit] Resignation of Tung Chee-hwa and interpretation of Basic Law
On March 12, 2005, the Chief Executive, Tung Chee-hwa, resigned. Tung's position is now filled by Donald Tsang, formerly the Chief Secretary for Administration — a popular bow tie-wearing career civil servant who was educated at Harvard and received a knighthood for his service during British colonial rule. Immediately after Tung's resignation, Tsang assumed the role of acting Chief Executive, which he stepped down from prior to putting himself forward as a candidate for the post of Chief Executive. Tsang was subsequently chosen to be the next Chief Executive, and his term will expire in 2007.
After Tung's resignation, there was dispute over the length of the term of the Chief Executive. To most local legal professionals, the length is obviously five years, under whatever circumstances. It should also be noted that the wording of the Basic Law on the term of the Chief Executive is substantially different from the articles in the PRC constitution concerning the length of term of the president, premier, etc. Nonetheless, legal experts from the mainland said it is a convention a successor will only serve the remainder of the term if the position is vacant because the predecessor resigned. The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress exercise its right to interpret the Basic Law, and affirm that the successor will only serve the remainder of the term. Many in Hong Kong saw this as an adverse impact on the rule of law in the territory, as the Central People's Government interpret the Basic Law to serve its need, that is, a two-year probation for Tsang, instead of a five-year term.
[edit] Political Reform Package
On December 4, 2005, people in Hong Kong demonstrated against Donald Tsang's proposed reform package, before a vote on December 21. An estimated 250,000 turned out into the streets.[6]
The march has sent a strong message to hesitant pro-democracy legislators to follow public opinion. The pro-government camp claims to have collected 700,000 signatures on a petition backing Mr. Tsang's reform package. This number, however, is widely seen as too small to influence pro-democracy lawmakers. The Reform Package debate has seen the return of key political figure and former Chief Secretary Anson Chan, raising speculations of a possible run up for the 2007 Chief Executive election, though she dismissed having a personal interest in standing for the next election.
In an attempt to win last minute votes from moderate pro-democracy lawmakers, the government amended its reform package on December 19 by proposing a gradual cut in district councils appointed members. Their number would be reduced from 102 to 68 by 2008. It would then be decided in 2011 whether to scrap the remaining seats in 2012 or in 2016. The amendment has been seen as a reluctant response by Donald Tsang to give satisfaction to the democratic demands of the December 4 demonstrations. The move has been qualified "Too little, too late" by pan-democrates in general.
On December 21, 2005, the reform political reform package was vetoed by the pro-democracy lawmakers. Chief Secretary Rafael Hui openly criticised pro-democracy Martin Lee and Bishop Zen for blocking the proposed changes.
[edit] Deputy Minister scheme
The 24 non-civil-service positions under the political appointment system comprise 11 undersecretaries and 13 political assistants.[7] The government named eight newly appointed Undersecretaries on 20 May, and nine Political Assistants on 22 May 2008. All the posts were newly created, ostensibly to work closely with bureau secretaries and top civil servants in implementing the Chief Executive's policy blueprint and agenda in an executive-led government. However, no pan-democrats were nominated. Donald Tsang described the appointments as a milestone in the development of Hong Kong's political appointment system.[8]
A row quickly ensued when Democrats sought to attack Gregory So Kam-leung and other appointees over their foreign passports.[9] The government maintained that there was no legal or constitutional impediment for the appointees to have foreign nationality. However, there was a tide of criticism from, amongst others, three former senior government officials the government's handling of the new political appointees: former Treasury secretary John Chan said the government was "politically insensitive" while Regina Ip said the administration displayed "political misjudgement"; former secretary for the civil service Joseph Wong said the government "should not keep the nationality and salaries of the appointees secret since the public has the right - and expectation - to know".[10] Five Undersecretaries had renounced foreign citizenship as at 4 June 2008, citing public opinion as an overriding factor, and two others had initiated the renunciation process[11]
[edit] Undersecretaries[8]
| Romanised name | Chinese name | age at appointment | Nationality | Portfolio attachment | Prior occupation | Govt salary[12] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yau Shing-mu | Chinese name | age | Nationality | transport and housing | Prior occupation | HK$208,680 |
| Florence Hui Hiu-fai | 許曉暉 | age | Nationality | home affairs | Head of Business Planning and Development, Standard Chartered Bank | HK$223,585 |
| Gabriel Matthew Leung | 梁卓偉 | age | Canadian[13] | food and health | Professor, Hong Kong University | HK$208,680 |
| Julia Leung Fung-yee | 梁鳳儀 | age | British[13] | financial services and the treasury | Prior occupation | HK$223,585 |
| Dr Kitty Poon Kit | 潘潔 | age | USA[13] | the environment | Asst Professor, PolyU | HK$208,680 |
| Kenneth Chen Wei-on | 陳維安 | 43 | Nationality | education | Prior occupation | HK$223,585 |
| Raymond Tam Chi-yuen | 譚志源 | 44 | British | constitutional and mainland affairs | deputy secretary for home affairs | HK$208,680 |
| Gregory So Kam-leung | 蘇錦樑 | 49 | Canadian[14] | commerce and economic development | Solicitor, Vice-Chairman, DAB | HK$223,585 |
No sooner that the nationality row had been quelled, another one erupted over appointees' individual quantum salary levels, as well as whether the were justified.[15] The Democratic Party moved to invoke Legislative Council (Power and Privileges) Ordinance to force the government to disclose exact salary levels of appointees.[15] On 5 June, the South China Morning Post lodged a complaint with the Ombudsman for access to information on appointees salaries.[16] Up to that point, the government had not revealed individual salaries, choosing instead to band the disclosure - for example, it was revealed that undersecretaries would be paid monthly stipend of HK$193,773 to HK$223,586, and that political assistants would receive between HK$104,340 and HK$163,963 for their services.[7][17]
Pressure for disclosure continued to mount despite government insistence on the right of the individuals to privacy: on 10 June 2008, newly-appointed Undersecretaries and political assistants, who had previously argued were contractually forbidden from disclosing their remuneration, revealed their salaries. The Government news release stated that the appointees had "voluntarily disclosed their salaries, given the sustained public interest in the issue."[12]
[edit] Other political issues since 1997
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2001 | The Grand bauhinia medal controversy with the award going to Yeung Kwong a supporter of the Hong Kong 1967 Leftist Riots.[18] |
| 2003 | Central and Wan Chai Reclamation Controversy |
| 2005 | Arrest of journalist Ching Cheong by the People's Republic of China on spying charges. |
| 2006 | Aborted proposal to introduce a Goods and Services Tax. |
| 2007 | Battle for conservation of Star Ferry Pier and Queen's Pier. |
| 2007 | Szeto Wah's selective persecution at Citizen's radio incident. |
| 2008 | Arrest of writer Lü Gengsong by the People's Republic of China. His book "Corrupted Officials in China" was available in HK in 2000. |
| 2008 | Actress Liza Wang reaches out to CPPCC to unban the democrats. |
[edit] Nationality and citizenship
[edit] Chinese nationality
Before and after the handover, the PRC recognizes the ethnic Chinese people in Hong Kong as its citizens. The PRC issues Home Return Permits for them to enter the mainland China. Hong Kong issues the HKSAR passport through its Immigration Department[19]. to all PRC citizens who are permanent residents of Hong Kong fitting the right of abode rule.
The HKSAR passport is not the same as the ordinary PRC passport, which is issued to residents of mainland China. Only permanent residents of Hong Kong who are PRC citizens are eligible to apply. To acquire the status of permanent resident one has to have "ordinarily resided" in Hong Kong for a period of seven years and adopted Hong Kong as their permanent home. Therefore, citizenships rights enjoyed by residents of mainland China and residents Hong Kong are differentiated even though both hold the same citizenship.
Interestingly, new immigrants from mainland China (still possess Chinese Citizenship) to Hong Kong are denied from getting PRC passport from the mainland authorities, and are not eligible to apply for an HKSAR passport. They usually hold the Document of Identity (DI) as the travel document, until the permanent resident status is obtained after seven years of residence.
Naturalisation as a PRC Citizen is common among ethnic Chinese people in Hong Kong who are not PRC Citizens. Some who have surrendered their PRC citizenship, usually those who have emigrated to foreign countries and have retained the permanent resident status, can apply for PRC citizenship at the Immigration Department, though they must renounce their original nationality in order to acquire the PRC citizenship.
Naturalisation of persons of non-Chinese ethnicity are rare because China does not allow dual citizenship and becoming a Chinese citizen requires the renouncement of other passports. A notable example is Michael Rowse, a permanent resident of Hong Kong and the current Director-General of Investment Promotion of Hong Kong Government, naturalised and became a PRC citizen, for the offices of secretaries of the policy bureaux are only open to PRC citizens.
[edit] British nationality
Hong Kong residents who were born in Hong Kong in the colonial era (about 3.5 million) could acquire the British Dependent Territories citizenship (BDTC). HK residents who were not born in Hong Kong could also naturalize as a BDTC before the handover. To allow them to retain the status of British national while preventing a possible flood of immigrants from Hong Kong, the United Kingdom created a new nationality status, British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) that Hong Kong British Dependent Territories citizens could apply for. Holders of the BN(O) passports, however, have no right of abode in the UK. See British nationality law and Hong Kong for details.
British National (Overseas) status was given effect by the Hong Kong (British Nationality) Order 1986. Article 4(1) of the Order provided that on and after 1 July 1987, there would be a new form of British nationality, the holders of which would be known as British Nationals (Overseas). Article 4(2) of the Order provided that adults and minors who had a connection to Hong Kong were entitled to make an application to become British Nationals (Overseas) by registration.
Becoming a British National (Overseas) was therefore not an automatic or involuntary process and indeed many eligible people who had the requisite connection with Hong Kong never applied to become British Nationals (Overseas). Acquisition of the new status had to be voluntary and therefore a conscious act. To make it involuntary or automatic would have been contrary to the assurances given to the Chinese government which led to the words "eligible to" being used in paragraph (a) of the United Kingdom Memorandum to the Sino-British Joint Declaration. The deadline for applications passed in 1997. Any person who failed to register as a British Nationals (Overseas) by 1 July 1997 and were eligible to become PRC citizens became solely PRC citizens on 1 July 1997. However, any person who would be rendered stateless by failure to register as a British Nationals (Overseas) automatically became a British Overseas citizen under article 6(1) of the Hong Kong (British Nationality) Order 1986.
After the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, people urged the British Government to grant full British citizenship to all Hong Kong BDTCs — but this request was never accepted. However, it was considered necessary to devise a British Nationality Selection Scheme to enable some of the population to obtain British citizenship. The United Kingdom made provision to grant citizenship to 50,000 families whose presence was important to the future of Hong Kong under the British Nationality Act (Hong Kong) 1990.
After reunification, all PRC citizens with the right of abode in Hong Kong (holding Hong Kong permanent identity cards) are eligible to apply for the HKSAR passport issued by the Hong Kong Immigration Department. As the visa-free-visit destinations of the HKSAR passport are very similar with that of a BN(O) passport and the application fee for the former is much lower (see articles HKSAR passport and British passport for comparison and verification), the HKSAR passport is becoming more popular among residents of Hong Kong.
Hong Kong residents who were not born in Hong Kong (and had not naturalised as a BDTC) could only apply for the Certificate of identity (CI) from the colonial government as travel document. They are not issued (by neither the British nor Chinese authorities) after handover. Former CI holders holding PRC Citizenship (e.g. born in mainland China or Macau) and are permanent residents of Hong Kong are now eligible for the HKSAR passports, making the HKSAR passports more popular.
Recent changes to India's Citizenship Act, 1955 (see Indian nationality law) will also allow some children of Indian origin, born in Hong Kong after 7 January 2004, who have a solely BN(O) parent to automatically acquire British Overseas citizenship at birth under the provisions for reducing statelessness in article 6(2) or 6(3) of the Hong Kong (British Nationality) Order 1986. If they have acquired no other nationality after birth, they will be entitled to subsequently register for full British citizenship with right of abode in the UK.
See also: British nationality law and Hong Kong, nationality, citizenship
[edit] Political parties and elections
| Parties | Votes | % | Geographical constituencies |
Functional constituencies |
Total seats | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pro-Democracy | Democratic Party | 423,631 | 23.74 | 7 | 2 | 9 | |
| Civic Party | 165,008 | 9.25 | 3 | 1 | 4 | ||
| Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood | 74,671 | 4.18 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions | 89,185 | 5.00 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Neighbourhood and Workers Service Centre | 59,033 | 3.31 | 1 | 1 | |||
| The Frontier | 73,844 | 4.14 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Pro democracy individuals and others | 115,181 | 6.45 | 4 | 4 | 8 | ||
| Pro-Government | Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong | 402,420 | 22.55 | 8 | 4 | 12 | |
| Liberal Party | 118,997 | 6.67 | 2 | 8 | 10 | ||
| The Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions | 52,564 | 2.95 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Pro-government individuals and others | 84,346 | 4.76 | 1 | 11 | 12 | ||
| Non-partisan | Individuals and others | 125,526 | 7.03 | ||||
| Total (turnout 55.6) | 1,784,406 | 100.0 | 30 | 30 | 60 | ||
| Source turnout: Xinhua. 11 candidates have been elected unopposed in 11 functional constituencies to the Legislative Council. | |||||||
(Total votes added up by this reference) For the joint list of pro-democrats in NT East, as one seat get 50000 votes, compare the remaining votes, Cheng and Lau got 50000 votes each, and Tong got 48833 vote, getting the last seat.
The four main political parties are as follows. Each holds a significant portion of LegCo. Twelve members are registered as affiliated with the DAB, ten with the Liberal Party, nine with the Democratic Party and six with the Civic Party. There are also many unofficial party members: politicians who are members of political parties but have not registered such status in their election applications. There are two major blocs: the democratic camp and the pro-government camp.
- Civic Party (Kuan Hsin-chi, chairman)
- Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB) (Tam Yiu Chung, chairman)
- Democratic Party (Albert Ho, chairman)
- Liberal Party (James Tien Pei-chun, chairman)
Others include:
- Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood (Frederick Fung Kin-kee, chairman)
- Citizens Party (Alex Chan Kai-chung, chairperson)
- The Frontier (Emily Lau Wai-hing, convenor)
- Hong Kong Progressive Alliance (Ambrose Lau Hon-chuen, chairman) (merged with the DAB 16 February 2005)
- Hong Kong Frontline (Mr. Chong, chairman)
- League of Social Democrats (Raymond Wong, chairman)
- Southern Democratic Alliance (James Lung, chairman)
[edit] Political pressure groups and leaders
- Chinese General Chamber of Commerce
- Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong
- Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (Lau Chin-shek, President; Lee Cheuk-yan, General Secretary)
- Federation of Hong Kong Industries
- Hong Kong Federation of Students
- International Action
- Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (Cheng Yiu-tong, President)
- The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China (Szeto Wah, Chairman)
- Hong Kong and Kowloon Trade Union Council
- Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce
- Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union(Cheung Man-kwong, President)
- Liberal Democratic Federation (Hu Fa-kuang, Chairman)
- Anson Chan, Convener of her Core Group
[edit] References
- ^ Wong, Yiu-chung. [2004] (2004). One Country, Two Systems in Crisis: Hong Kong's Transformation. Lexington Books. Hong Kong. ISBN 0739104926.
- ^ Basiclaw23HK. "Basiclaw23." Treason, subversion and secession. Retrieved on 2007-12-28.
- ^ Wong, Yiu-Chung. One Country, Two Systems in Crisis: Hong Kong's Transformation Since the Handover. Lexington books. ISBN 0739104926.
- ^ "Hong Kong Leader Urges Beijing to Allow More Democracy, Suggests Delay in Direct Elections", Voice of America News, 2007-12-12. Retrieved on 2007-12-19.
- ^ BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific |HK 'to elect its leader by 2017'
- ^ Alliance.org.hk. "Alliance.org.hk." Szeto Wah Speech. Retrieved on 2007-12-29.
- ^ a b Bonnie Chen, "No hurry to present new deputy ministers", The Standard, 4 March 2008
- ^ a b Diana Lee, "High hopes for appointees", The Standard, 21 May 2008
- ^ Mary Ma, "Passport to political maturity", The Standard, 29 May 2008
- ^ Bonnie Chen, "Ex-officials on attack", The Standard, 3 June 2008
- ^ Ambrose Wong et al, "Deputy Ministers give up passports", South China Morning Post, 5 June 2008
- ^ a b "Political appointees disclose salaries", Hong Kong Government, 10 June 2008, retrieved 2008-06-12
- ^ a b c renunciation announced 4 June 2008: Albert Wong et al, "Five of government's eight new deputies in citizenship dilemma", South China Morning Post, 5 June 2008
- ^ renounced 29 May 2008: Albert Wong et al, "Five of government's eight new deputies in citizenship dilemma", South China Morning Post, 5 June 2008
- ^ a b Eva Wu, "Liberal chief questions big pay rises for political assistants"], South China Morning Post, 5 June 2008
- ^ Page A1, South China Morning Post, 5 June, 2008
- ^ Bonnie Chen, "Media muscle in on political posts", The Standard, 23 May 2008
- ^ Chan, Ming K. So, Alvin Y. White III, Lynn T. [2002] (2002). Crisis and Transformation in China's Hong Kong. M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 0765610000.
- ^ GovHK. "GovHK." HK SAR passport. Retrieved on 2007-12-28.
[edit] See also
- Politics of China
- Politics of the People's Republic of China
- PRC United Front strategy
- Foreign relations of Hong Kong
- One country, two systems
- District Council of Hong Kong
[edit] External links
- HKSAR Government web site
- Executive Council
- Legislative Council
- Olympic Watch (Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games in a Free and Democratic Country) on the status of Hong Kong
- Sight & Sound of a recent protest march
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