As China goes on to neutralize Hong Kong’s pro-democracy opposition, it also gives the green light to a new political party that offers a window on how Beijing can change territory in the coming years.
The Bauhinia party, named after the flower of the Hong Kong flag, was founded last May by Western-trained businessmen who were born on the mainland and have ties to the Communist Party. Although still small, the group consulted with Hong Kong government officials, the Liaison Office – the main oversight body of the city of Beijing – and relevant offices in China, according to Charles Wong Chau-chi. , one of the co-founders.
In an interview, Wong said that while the party never formally requested the endorsement of these Chinese agencies, “we believe there is no reason why they do not want to endorse us.”
The purpose of the party, he added, was to support the people to run for the post of chief executive, which will go on sale next year when the first term of Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam expires. One possibility is Li Shan, the party chairman, who is the chief executive of Silk Road Finance Corp. Ltd., a member of the board of directors of Credit Suisse AG and a delegate to the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, Beijing’s advisory body. He turned down an interview request.
Wong said Li would be interested in becoming Hong Kong’s next leader only if “he is asked and asked, he doesn’t necessarily want to.” The Bauhinia party, Wong said, is not ready to run in the September Legislative Council elections, which were delayed by a year due to the pandemic.
The formation of the group at a time when China faces criticism in the West for closing democracy defends the signs of a Beijing effort to perfect a managed version of electoral policy that gives the Communist Party maximum veto power . Last year, Chinese authorities passed a national security law that has been used to reduce freedom of expression, while imposing a test of patriotism to disable pro-democracy lawmakers, an action that led to members of the opposition Legislative Council resigned en masse in November.
“Compete for Blessings”
The appearance of the Bauhinia party points to a multi-party system that “competes for blessings and demonstrates loyalty and devotion to whoever rules Beijing,” he said Kenneth Chan, associate professor at Hong Kong Baptist University.
How China stays on who leads Hong Kong
Any move by Beijing to further strengthen its position in Hong Kong would provide early evidence for U.S. President Joe Biden, who has vowed to support democracy advocates in the former British colony. A former Hong Kong leader is still close to Beijing recently suggested that the next chief executive be decided next year for consultation, rather than through a committee of 1,200 people. Beijing, in any case, can veto any winner it doesn’t like.
The Bauhinia party platform says it seeks to “respect” a country, “love” two systems “and safeguard Hong Kong’s core values of freedom, democracy and the rule of law.” While this sounds in line with Hong Kong’s moderate pro-democracy camp, the group’s diagnosis of the territory’s problems reflects that of Beijing.
Bauhinia Party is named after the flower of the Hong Kong flag.
Photographer: Paul Yeung / Bloomberg
Wong said the root causes of the 2019 unrest had “nothing to do with China,” while pointing to factors such as high-priced housing, poor local governance and an opposition that he said “broke the social fabric and angered everyone. ” The national security law, he added, was “timely to help stabilize Hong Kong” and had no impact on “one country, two systems”, the framework that would guarantee the autonomy of the territory for 50 years after Britain delivered the former colony in 1997.
Wong outlined a number of policy proposals that he said would help strengthen Hong Kong’s economy over the next few decades: “One country, two systems” should be expanded for another 50 years. Young people should learn more about China, study Mandarin and work on the mainland. Hong Kong should take advantage of the Great Bay area, Beijing’s plan to link the territory with Macao and neighboring Shenzhen, home of Huawei Technologies Co. And the city should implement a universal suffrage proposal approved by Beijing.
Perhaps the hardest problem, Wong said, was expensive housing. He said high property prices were affecting everyone, raising the cost of living and making Hong Kong “less and less competitive”. The party platform calls for “bold solutions” that include land reclamation and seafronts, agricultural land zoning, land co-development with nearby cities of Shenzhen and Zhuhai and the conversion of rural parks that now form approximately 40% of the total area of Hong Kong.
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“Land supply is not a problem,” Wong said. The challenge, he added, was to find “a common denominator that everyone shares to really drive your housing program.”
While it’s unclear whether the Bauhinia party can gain much strength, Beijing’s current friendly groups in Hong Kong have ruled out their chances of winning elections. “The business community will not invest its resources in new parties without political influence and with little prospect of winning seats at LegCo or at the district level,” said Regina Ip, a pro-establishment lawmaker.
Wong said the party aims to end up to 250,000 members. He added that the party’s communication with the Chinese government would probably be “quite fluid”, although he said it was “silly” for critics to say he had Beijing’s support.
“A lot of people try to determine if we’re from China,” Wong said. “I think they really miss the point. We should look at whether we are in Hong Kong or not. And China is there to help, but there are bottom lines, there are red lines. “