Hong Kong

Growing together

By Michelle Fei (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-06-01 08:31

Top: An elderly Hong Kong resident closes his eyes as he holds Chinese national flags on the morning of July 1, 1997, the day Hong Kong returned to the motherland. Above: An employee at the Hong Kong Baptist University explains details of courses and facilities with a mainland parent. Universities in Hong Kong are attracting an increasing number of outstanding students from the mainland. Top: Jia Guorong / For China Daily; above: You You / For China Daily

"The biggest change that Hong Kong has experienced since the handover was to remain unchanged," says Jasper Tsang Yok-sing, 65, president of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. "As stated by Deng Xiaoping, the only thing that would be changed in Hong Kong after the handover was the flag," says Tsang, also the founding chairman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB) before his appointment as president of the Legislative Council.

By saying "remain unchanged", he refers to a high degree of autonomy the city enjoys after returning to the motherland, under the groundbreaking "One Country, Two Systems" principle.

The hoisting of the Bauhinia blakeana flower flag on July 1, 1997, for the handover ceremony marked a great milestone for Hong Kong changing from a colony of the British empire into a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China.

Tsang first participated in drafting the Basic Law of Hong Kong, which is the city's constitutional document, in the 1980s. He was later involved in the preparatory work of the establishment of the SAR government in the 1990s.

Hong Kong has experienced, and is still experiencing, great evolutions, with increasing integration with the mainland in many fields of society. Legislators discuss motions related to the mainland almost every day, such as cross-border family issues.

"It became almost impossible to make public policies in the SAR without considering the situation on the mainland," Tsang says.

The most significant evolution directly caused by the return has occurred in the political realm.

Under the framework of the Basic Law, the SAR enjoys executive, legislative and independent judicial power, including the power of final adjudication.

"For the first time, we can choose a Hong Kong resident to govern the city, instead of listening to the British government," Tsang says.

"This meant that Hong Kong was no longer a servant."

Tsang was also a member of the Guangdong provincial committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) from 1976 until he became a member of the national committee of the CPPCC in 1993.

He finds the members of the CPPCC in Hong Kong have changed greatly. They are more involved in the government advisory body in making public policies. Tsang says they should give credit to Chief Executive Donald Tsang on this point.

Tsang recalls that during the Tung administration, Hong Kong CPPCC members were mainly consulted twice a year before the two major sessions of the National People's Congress and CPPCC, and the annual policy address of the chief executive. Nowadays they often participate in daily advisory work.

"Since the handover, Hong Kong has benefited a lot from the vast economic development on the mainland under the historical reform and opening-up policy," Tsang says.

In the first few years of the handover, when the achievements of the reform and opening-up policy were not immediately obvious to everyone, many noticed a so-called "Hong Kong superiority complex" in the SAR.

The situation, however, was totally reversed with the swift development of the mainland and more integration with the mainland economy, Tsang says.

"The 'superiority complex' has disappeared. Instead, we clearly feel that the city's competitive edge has been slowly eroded by fierce competition from mainland cities such as Shanghai," Tsang says.

The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences released its annual list of Asia's most competitive cities on May 7. Hong Kong, although still at the top of the list for the sixth straight year, is under threat from mainland cities.

Integration with the mainland can also be found in the city's daily life.

The ability to speak Mandarin among the SAR population has increased since the handover. The number of men and women speaking the language doubled from that of 1991 to make up about 40 percent of Hong Kong residents in 2006, according to the Census and Statistics Department of Hong Kong.

With more communication with the mainland, Hong Kong people's sense of national identity has increased significantly, Tsang says.

"We Hong Kong people felt proud of Beijing's success in hosting the 2008 Olympic Games; we felt sorry for the baby formula scandals; we felt sad for the victims of the Wenchuan earthquake - these feelings all indicate that we consider ourselves Chinese," Tsang says.

Referring to the controversial Moral and National Education Course, which was proposed as a compulsory subject in primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong by Chief Executive Donald Tsang in his 2011 Policy Address, Jasper Tsang says the move is "necessary" and suggests that the subject be taught in a more vivid and practical way.

"I suggest that Chinese history be changed into a compulsory subject. One cannot call himself Chinese without studying the history of the country," Tsang says.

For Tsang, who obtained a master's degree in teaching at the University of Hong Kong and has worked as a teacher and later as the principal of Pui Kiu Middle School for years, teaching is about four major steps: knowledge, emotion, attitude and behavior.

"National education should not be considered as 'patriotic brainwashing'. It aims to enrich students' knowledge of the country they belong to," Tsang says.

"We have to admit that, due to historical reasons, there are ideological differences between Hong Kong and the mainland. National education cannot and should not be used to erase the difference, but to enhance mutual understanding," Tsang says.

Tsang calls for a more "regular" communication channel between Hong Kong legislators and mainland officials, with practical conversations over cross-border issues.

The biggest barrier in setting up such channels is the different political culture; and the key to solving the problem is to stay open minded with a cooperative attitude, he says.

(China Daily 06/01/2011 page67)