Carrie Lam’s policy address shows Beijing is in the driver’s seat on Hong Kong’s future

The plans detailed in the latest policy address indicate both Beijing’s high hopes for Hong Kong’s development and frustration at its lack of progress
Hong Kong’s autonomy remains in place, but the city’s political elite need to show the people that this is still the case

Christine Loh

Published: 6:45am, 8 Oct 2021

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Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s 2021 policy address represents a watershed in Hong Kong’s political and governance development. It lays out the relationship between Beijing and Hong Kong and how it will continue to evolve at a time of high geopolitical tensions.

Hong Kong is both an external and internal issue for the central authorities. It is external because the city is an element in China’s ongoing contest with the United States. It is internal because Hong Kong is part of China.

For the city, while its local governance structure and system are transforming to buttress national security, the fact that Hong Kong is a point of friction between big powers is discomforting.

Prior to the delivery of this year’s policy address, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had produced a document crafted as though it was evidence for the prosecution.

The ministry issued a fact sheet on September 24 that included a long list of what it called “interference” by the US in Hong Kong affairs. There are named individuals from Hong Kong, some of whom were legislators and political activists, who urged American politicians to sanction Hong Kong and the mainland.

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Tension is also high with respect to Taiwan. Beijing is very sensitive to what it sees as secessionist activities there under the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen.

In recent weeks, there have been high-level efforts to reduce stress between China and the US. The two countries’ respective presidents had a phone conversation, and there have been meetings and calls between senior diplomats from the two sides. China’s message included calling on the US not to interfere in Hong Kong affairs and not to encourage Taiwan to seek independence.

Notably, Chinese warplanes flew through Taiwan’s air defence zone earlier this week. This was seen as a response to a gathering of foreign vessels in the Pacific, including aircraft carriers, from the US, Britain, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands and New Zealand.

This kind of brinkmanship should be of concern to Hong Kong, as well as regional neighbours. No one wants an accident that could trigger a military escalation.

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Amid such tensions, the early part of the policy address provided a summary of Beijing’s new attitude towards Hong Kong in light of heightened national security concerns. From Beijing’s perspective, foreign interference requires an iron fist.

The national security law is designed to stop what Beijing considered to be anti-government activities in the past two years carried out in Hong Kong that led to unrest and violence in 2019.

Lam summarised the problem as “destabilising forces entering the political system of the HKSAR through elections, deluding and inciting young people through education and the media, undermining Hong Kong’s stability through illegal violent acts and endangering national security through collusion with external forces”.

Hence, it was seen as necessary for Hong Kong to revamp local elections to filter out “unpatriotic” politicians through oath-taking to swear allegiance, as well as for the political background of candidates wishing to stand for election to be vetted.

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From Beijing’s perspective, those whose loyalty to the established system is suspect cannot be allowed to participate in governance because they might use it as a platform for disruption. This includes filibustering in the legislature, as was the case in recent years, to disrupt its work for an extended period.

There are more changes in the pipeline. The government is preparing a local bill to fulfil Hong Kong’s duty to legislate Article 23 of the Basic Law to address gaps not covered by the national security law, such as sedition, treason and official secrets.

Civil servants are required to see their service to Hong Kong in the national context. Beijing says some government employees participated in the protests, as did some teachers in publicly funded schools. Schools and universities are preparing compulsory classes on Hong Kong’s governance system and national security.

Along with the national security law, the mainland has imposed a supervisory structure in Hong Kong to oversee its implementation. The office is headed by Luo Huining, a senior mainland official who recently ventured out to conduct district visits to gain a first-hand understanding of local issues unrelated to national security.

He has called on the local administration to serve the interests of the people by solving long-standing socioeconomic problems, such as housing.

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His actions reflect Beijing’s frustration with the Hong Kong administration for not having done enough for ordinary people. This aggravated the public’s grievances with the government, which in turn made it easier for the opposition to tap into mass discontent. This might be seen as too simple an understanding, but that is what Beijing sees.

Beijing’s solution is to try to help solve problems. It is including Hong Kong in national development through integrating it into the Greater Bay Area. Seen from Beijing, this makes sense as the mainland has vast plans for the region in both hard and soft infrastructure development. The policy address has many plans and initiatives to link Hong Kong with the mainland.

The breadth of Beijing’s approach is a new experience for Hong Kong. Beijing believes it will win support in time through more direct guidance. Hong Kong’s autonomy remains broad, but the political elite need to demonstrate that this is still the case.

Christine Loh, a former undersecretary for the environment, is an adjunct professor at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology