[The Standard/27.7.1989] Life after Tiananmen Square

Life after Tiananmen Square 

By JACKIE SAM, Features Editor, The Hongkong Standard on 27 July 1989

(Hong Kong Economic Journal)

THE ARTIST laid out four chamber pots in Victoria Park, Hongkong’s largest urban park, and invited Sunday strollers to defecate into them. As the large crowd laughed and giggled away, he dropped his pants and accepted his own invitation.

The chamber pots represented China’s four cardinal principles of socialism, Communist Party leadership, dictatorship of the proletariat and Marxist-Leninist-Maoist thought.

The artist would have gone all the way had a policeman not ordered him to put his pants on. He was not arrested and will probably try some other stunt another weekend.

Hardly a week goes by without the lunatic fringe pulling off a political stunt. No day passes without someone publicly demanding “Democracy now!”

This is Hongkong politicking at a frantic pace – without any sense of direction and no vision of the future. Worse, there is no sensible leadership in sight. The problem is compounded by a rising political consciousness among the six million people.

Hardly a week goes by without the lunatic fringe pulling off a political stunt. No day passes without someone publicly demanding “Democracy now!”. This is Hongkong politicking at a frantic pace – without any sense of direction, and no vision of the future.

The rude awakening came just before the tanks clattered into Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the early hours of June 4.

But for over 150 years under benign colonial rule, local leadership was neither needed nor encouraged. Only compradores were co-opted, both to give legitimacy to the system and to advise British bureaucrats on the ways of the Chinese. At most, they represented local business, largely Shanghainese interests.

Senior Executive Councillor (Exco) Dame Lydia Dunn and Senior Legislative Councillor Allen Lee Peng-fei, who is also an Exco member, are the largest inductees into this colonial order. Both have extensive business interests and both have family roots in Shanghai.

Dame Lydia is too closely identified with British interests to be able to offer credible leadership to a population imbued with a new-found sense of Chineseness. In any case, she does not seem interested in any significant role beyond the early 1990s.

(Books4you, 52nd edition via krislcc.wordpress.com)

Mr Lee, still harbouring some post-1997 ambitions in spite of the Tiananmen massacre, is also identified with British interests. Once touted as “the Lee Kuan Yew of Hongkong”, he has not tried to distance himself from Whitehall’s interests, though more statesmanlike in Sino-Hongkong affairs.

As Hongkong moves inexorably into China’s fold, the Whitehall luggage will be a liability. But this late in the day, politics remains at the parish-pump level, horizons remain narrow and naivete prevails. So the so-called liberals or democrats and the lunatic fringe who make the most noise have a field day.

This feature of Hongkong’s political landscape dominates the media, is the most exciting for recent tertiary institution graduates and is both the hope and bane of the Westernised elite. It is dominated by two men, Queen’s Counsel Martin Lee Chu-ming and trade unionist-school principal Szeto Wah.

(Mad Dog Daily)

Martin Lee is a very successful barrister, an articulate member of the Legislative Council, staunchly anti-communist, and idealistic to the point of arrogance. Like Dame Lydia, hs is a darling of the Western media. But his definition of democracy has not gone beyond the immediate introduction of universal franchise, and his disdain for the rough and tumble of grassroots politics makes him a poor leader.

Szeto Wah was previously suspect in the eyes of the expatriate community and the local Westernised elite. A good organiser, politically more astute than Martin Lee but with a limited knowledge of English, he was regarded as part of China’s united front on the colony. Until the student demonstrations and the June 4 massacre, he was more accommodating towards China than Martin Lee was.

Both men have spent months trying, without success, to set up a political party embracing all liberal and vested interest group.

In the past two years, these “liberals’ or “democrats” have etched out certain characteristics which will be very hard for them to eradicate in the coming years. First, no one wants to follow; everyone claims to be leader or spokesman. The result is endless squabbling, both in private and in public. They are divided by personal traits, social standing, wealth or lack of it, attitudes towards China and Britain, and education.

Secondly, this part of the political landscape is littered with pressure groups representing minority interests and mostly started for apolitical reasons. Except for a handful, they ate single-issue groups concerned with problems such as pollution, recovery of payments from bankrupt travel agencies, leaky roofs in public housing of conservancy. Their umbrella organisation, the Joint Committee for the Promotion of Democratic Government (JCPDG), embraces 101 groups.

The great majority represent only a handful of non-paying members, usually a dozen people. Most groups want to retain their separate identities while demanding an equal voice in the bigger issues. Most have about 200 members on whom little or no discipline can be imposed.

As the demand for greater political participation grows, the weaknesses of these pressure groups become more evident. They are locked into a pressure group mentally, devoting all their energies to one issue and lapsing into total inactivity till the next issue crops up.

The umbrella organisation, JCPDG, and the newly-established Hongkong Alliance in Support of the Patriotic Democratic Movement in China cannot focus on anything beyond two weeks. As one academic puts it: “Anything beyond a fortnight means trouble. They start to argue, split hairs and disintegrate. So they plan rallies, seminars, pop shows and get everyone to focus on the immediate task to create an illusion of unity.” But on the vital issue of creating a party, unity of purpose and resolve continues to elude them.

Just before the student demonstrations in China, these groups, including Martin Lee and Szeto Wah, were being dismissed as irrelevant to the whole political process.

When the protests broke out, Martin Lee and Szeto Wah seized the issue to revive their “democratic” movement.

For about a month, they wallowed in unrivalled poplarity [sic]. They got carries away. Szeto Wah and some of his close associates called for the overthrow of the Chinese leadership, publicly exulting in financial aid they had given to students in China and the “underground” groups set up to whisk to safety student leaders on China’s wanted list.

Worrying

Emotions over those demonstrations have died down and many people are now accusing these democrats, especially Martin Lee and Szeto Wah, of putting Hongkong in danger. More internal squabbling, more public rallies and provocative stunts must be expected.

All these activities are worrying to the local business community. That is why they have been quietly applauding a recent People’s Daily editorial denouncing Martin Lee and Szeto Wah as “counter-revolutionaries” and warning Hongkong people against meddling in China’s internal affairs if they want their “one country, two systems” after June 1997.

While emotions ran high in the aftermath of the Tiananmen massacre and Martin Lee and Szeto Wah hogged the limelight, conservative elements kept a low profile. They are beginning to speak out again. Some observers believe these conservatives were behind the People’s Daily editorial.

The conservatives are as divided as the democrats or liberals are. But at least they have a vision of the future and are less inclined to quarrel in public. What they seek is simply a stable Hongkong, a timid, obedient and hard-working population, and a free hand to make as much money as possible – with China as a full partner in a Hongkong Inc.

The Tiananmen massacre has given an impetus to faster political reforms before 1997. The democrats or liberals say that a quickened pace will lead to the setting up of a representative government before sovereignty returns to China. This, they insist, will stop Beijing from interfering in Hongkong’s affairs.

China’s united front network, built up over the past 50 years, is intact, though its propaganda arms, the Wen Wei Po and the Ta Kung Pao, faltered during the month-long demonstrations and immediately after the massacre. Both newspapers are now being brought back into line.

But the little publicised parts of this united front have always been more important and are now an integral part of Hongkong’s political landscape. The key player here is the New China News Agency (Xinhua), China’s unofficial representative office in Hongkong.

The agency operates on many fronts at all levels. It has been successful in winning over a few Legco members and a large section of the local business community with complete dominance of the local chamber of commerce. It also has a strong hold on the retail trade through the handful of agency houses for foodstuff and consumer goods from China. The influence exerted on a tradition-minded, Chinese-speaking community is immense.

Network

Apart from above-ground operations, there is the underground network of the Chinese Communist Party itself. Operatives have been sent into Hongkong since the 1930s. The Kuomintang claims there are between 60,000 and 80,000 underground agents. Government sources say there are 20,000 to 25,000. The media and academics accept the lower figure.

These agents live among the people, work as lowly-paid employees in the private sector or run retail businesses. According to one police source, many have moved into the lower echelons of the public service, especially the immigration service. Their role is widely believed to be to influence grassroots thinking and to keep Beijing informed of developments.

In the coming weeks, this network and the united front will be activated to give Hongkong a propaganda blitz it has never seen before. The aim is to assure the people of their future.

It will be a Herculean task. But Beijing is not overly worried if the effort fails. Since the 1970s, it has been grooming a corps of believers to run the territory. That is something that many Hongkong people fear as well.

The best hope for Hongkong as a financial and trading centre remains a combination of British-trained administrators and local business interests, with Beijing’s hand operating discreetly behind the scenes, supported by a hardworking, apolitical population.

But with the liberals and the lunatic fringe allow this? Would the newfound nationalism of Hongkong people who fear communism allow them to remain bystanders while a big chill sweeps across the mainland?

Whatever the answers, it promises to be very interesting into the year ahead.

Lewis Loud: Joshua Wong Is Patriotic. Not Surprised. But More Importantly…

Joshua Wong Is Patriotic. Not Surprised. But More Importantly…

Translated by Cesar Guarde-Paz, edited by Chen-t'ang, written by Lewis Loud [Originally written in January 2015]
Original: http://dadazim.com/journal/2015/01/drama/ 

Joshua Wong said that a revolution needs ammunition, and a “revolution” was different from the the sacred umbrella in their hands; afterwards, he joined the TV programme “Face to Face”, where he reiterated that he was patriotic or, otherwise, he would not go to Victoria Park’s candlelight vigil for June 4 Tian'anmen Massacre.

The whole picture can only be grasped when these remarks are taken all together. There were many slogans at Admiralty’s Occupy “Big Stage”. “Do not forget the original intention” is one of them. They prefer “Umbrella Movement” than “Umbrella Revolution”, and they say it’s because there was no ammunition. Again and again, they reiterate the importance of being patriotic. All of these are a hidden confession to the authorities of their true motive and position: We are not engaging in a revolution to overthrow this regime. It is just a crowd moving across the streets. We are patriotic. Beijing or our mother country, please don’t forget the “true intentions” that we Scholarism and the Hong Kong Federation of Students from the Pan-democracy Camp have. We do not actually wish to do anything!

 

What are the “real intentions” that should not be forgotten?
When they stormed into the Civic Square, even Joshua Wong himself could not have predicted that a movement by a small group of citizens would have been handled by tear gas, causing Hongkongers to take the roads for two months without reaching a mutually satisfying state in the end. Now that the movement is over and the low-pressure politics has been emerging, Joshua Wong, related the treatment he received in the police station to his future, naturally would not want the Communist Party to take him as the culprit of the disorderliness of the Occupy Central on September 28, of the in Hong Kong society, of the humiliation the Communist Party has suffered since then or of the turmoil among the factions in the Party.

“Don’t forget the original intentions” The original intentions of Benny Tai and others were to get arrested in October to achieve a greater, faster and better result, while the original intentions of Joshua Wong were to get arrested after a few people stormed into the Civic Square. But Hongkongers will not sit down waiting for their “leaders’” performance. When the tear gas was deployed, the situation became out of control, and the Hongkongers occupied everywhere, leaving Admiralty for Causeway Bay, Canton Road, and Mong Kok. The attitude in the “volunteers” and the “pickets” from Admiralty attempted to permeate these places, however, the mass stayed there against these people’s dismissal suggestion. That is when those from Admiralty started to utter things like “we need to remember the original intentions”. Or in translation, it means “we didn’t expect to go this far!”

 

Joshua Wong is a patriot. No need to be surprised. As for Joshua Wong’s self-declaration of patriotism, Ko Wai-yin, a columnist, also expressed her opposition. It doesn’t surprise me at all. Right at the beginning of the establishment of Scholarism, founders such as Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow stated in an interview by “iSunaffairs” that they have deep feelings towards China and the June 4 Massacre (See note 1).

It can be said that the members of Scholarism and that of the Hong Kong Federation of Students are fundamentally not different from the Greater Chinese democrats (the Labour Party, the Democratic Party, the Civic Party, the League of Social Democrats and so on) in terms of the attitudes towards China. In a party, you always find the shadow of another parties, and vice versa.

In 2011, Fred Lam stated his opposition against attacks to the Democratic Party. Joshua Wong supported him on Facebook. While Agnes Chow appeared in an anniversary dinner of the League of Social Democrats, a pro-Greater China party. This is their nature, and there is nothing to say about it.
Patriotism is the nature of the Scholarism and the Hong Kong Federation of Students, as well as the Pan-democrats. Therefore, it explained their hatred against the word “umbrella revolution” and their fear of the uncontrolled masses (in Mong Kok, Causeway Bay, Canton Road, and those who expect the updated means), which are their true patriotic intentions — Do not work against China. But when you get raped by it, remember to cry a little so as to show your “conscience” and “character”.

 

Do not anger the Communist Party!Everything goes back to the Associate Professor of Sociology at CUHK Chan Kin-man’s words on the reason to initiate the Occupy Central campaign: Ever since the political reform in 2011, the middlemen have stopped contacting them. Therefore, they engaged in the Occupy Central campaign wishing that Beijing would listen to their concerns (EJ Insight).

The “Big Stage”, the international journalists, the artworks, and many other demonstrations exist because the nature of this movement is a show. Precisely, it was a play for Beijing to see, somewhat hoping Beijing to take a step backward -- be it changing the original mindset for real or merely for saving face.

The so-called “original intentions” in them were like a helpless woman begging her father-in-law to take his orders back in ancient Chinese world. It was a mild persuasion, rather than a confrontation. The last thing that woman will do is to anger his father-in-law; similarly, the last thing these parties will do is to anger the Communist Party. It all makes sense then to see them against people’s idea, online or offline, to stop them from launching a protest or upgrading their means on the celebration of the Chinese “National Day” -- all of them work like a human chain preventing citizens from being out of control.

By understanding the patriotic stance of Scholarism and the Hong Kong Federation of Students -- do not anger the Communist Party -- it simply becomes clear to people as to why their actions are consistent. “Do not forget the original intentions” is after  all an empty slogan.

They termed it as “original intentions”. Reason being that they know how unacceptable it would be to many if they are being truthful as “let us all make a show under the premise of not angering the Communist Party”. It doesn’t sound good. So they keep shouting “Do not forget the original intentions”.

This slogan is in their favour. At least innocent citizens may have thought “original intentions” as some pure/truth-seeking measures without demanding for further explanations. Only their counterparts will know what it truly is.

After all the diligent work during these two years as a follow-up of Occupy Central, Chan Kin-man said with relief that after September 28, Hong Kong has come to understand “our city does not have the capital for a revolution.”

Correct me if I’m wrong. It sounds to me that he’s saying the whole point of Occupy Central was to inform Hongkongers how useless confrontation is.

Alex Chow, the former secretary general of Hong Kong Federation of Students, as well joined the escalation to prove how useless escalation can be. Same logic, same choice of word, they are both "moderate” pan-democrats, who have a tendency to surrender. The comments of Alex Chow, Chan Kin-man or Joshua Wong towards revolution are intertwined with each other -- unless you are one of them, whatever you do are wrong and useless.

 

You are just another Szeto Wah
After one Szeto Wah has finally passed away, a new Szeto Wah has been reincarnated in the figure of Joshua Wong. Voldemort are so powerful that, after death, it can divide the human soul into different parts. This is called human soul fragmentation, and thus his soul was separated into three political bodies: the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, the Hong Kong Professional Teachers Union, and the Democratic Party. Similarly, the also patriotic Long Hair Leung Kwok-hung is just another one. And the young Joshua Wong is also one of those patriotic folks defending the Chinese democracy front for the Chinese democratic movement. Everything they ever did, therefore, is to avoid making the Communist Party mad. Under this framework, all their actions are reasonable indeed.

Back in the day, Szeto Wah will repress the “three strikes”, namely the workers’, students’, and the shopkeepers’ strikes, after the June 4 Tian'anmen Massacre memorial, stopping Hong Kong from “losing control” and distancing himself from the “motherland”. Today’s Joshua Wong handled the abortions of the National Education protests and the Umbrella Revolution -- comparable to his predecessors.

Szeto Wah was secretly in deals with you-know-that regime and was maintaining the democratic movement and self-awareness in Hong Kong to a controllable extent. What Joshua Wong is doing now, added with his words and deeds, is not so different from Szeto Wah.

People like Szeto Wah and Joshua Wong are popular to the mainstream “audience”. With a great political energy, a strong fund raising ability, a great deal of blind yellow-ribbon fans, and also the endorsement of Jimmy Lai – they basically have what they want. In the following chapters of Hong Kong, if the situation remains this way, surely ”democracy” will take us another 30 years… without a guarantee of success for certain, if you know what I mean.

Sacrificing Hong Kong in the name of China had happened. Although in the new high school system, history is not a compulsory subject, if we are unfortunate enough, we might see Joshua Wong making history again… just like Szeto Wah  did in the past.

 

 

Note 1: Original text from the interview by “iSunaffairs”:
Joshua Wong said, “Why do I want a Tian'anmen Massacre vindication? It is because I long for democracy in China.” He believes that June 4 is just a checkpoint, and if the government refuses to admit it, China would not have achieved democracy. “There is still a bit of freedom of speech and freedom of association in Hong Kong. so when Hong Kong can still commemorate June 4, we should stand firm and from there fight for Hong Kong’s democracy and for China’s democracy.”

Some may feel that it has nothing to do with Hongkongers whether China has democracy or not, but Joshua Wong said, “First, you have to admit that you are Chinese, and since your life happens to be in this piece of China, anything that happens in China will eventually have an effect in Hong Kong. Thus, whether or not China has democracy will have an effect on Hong Kong’s possibilities for democracy. The June 4 vindication is an opportunity for Chinese democracy, so a peaceful June 4 is also important for every Hongkonger.”