Hong Kong Deserves Better

When Britain agreed 20 years ago to return the colony of Hong Kong to China, Beijing agreed to let Hong Kong residents continue to enjoy a “high degree of autonomy.” China’s stubborn refusal this week to interpret the promise as allowing popular elections for the chief executive and legislature of Hong Kong is deplorable. Beijing obviously fears unleashing the popular will and possibly infecting the mainland.

Hong Kong residents understandably have been upset with Tung Chee-hwa, their chief minister since the 1997 handover of power from Britain. Beijing nominates the top man, and 800 “elite” residents carefully scrutinized by China dutifully elect him. Tung’s administration dithered last year as severe acute respiratory syndrome plagued Hong Kong; allegations of corruption and general mismanagement also dog Tung and his team.

Last July 1, more than 500,000 residents demonstrated against proposed laws ostensibly designed to fight subversives but more accurately viewed as suppressing free speech. The outpouring stunned China, as did Hong Kong’s election several months later of pro-democracy candidates for local councils. This month, Tung asked Beijing to overhaul Hong Kong’s electoral system, a plea it should have heeded even though democracy activists scorned the proposed changes as too weak. Instead, the Chinese leaders refused outright to allow the popular election of the next chief executive in 2007 and of the entire Legislative Council the following year.

The British Foreign Office minister, Bill Rammell, rightly complained to China’s ambassador to Britain on Monday that Beijing’s insistence on keeping control ran counter to China’s 1984 guarantee of substantial autonomy. The White House was less critical, unfortunately. Relations with China have improved greatly since the Bush administration took over, and Washington looks to Beijing to push North Korea toward giving up nuclear weapons. But that should not mean China gets a free pass on deflecting democracy in Hong Kong or on threatening Taiwan when Beijing is upset by its actions.

Letting the democracy movement flourish in Hong Kong as it has in Taiwan would reassure investors and even bring more stability to the mainland. China would be better off living up to the Hong Kong agreement than resisting it.