Dear Next Chief Executive,
Since you aspire to lead Hong Kong after 2012, now is the time for you to convince Beijing to resolve the democracy issue. Now is the last best chance for Beijing to reconcile with Hong Kong people on the decade-long political dilemma ---- before the city might be turned into its long-term burden.
Why democracy matters? It is time to throw away rubbish theories against Hong Kong’s need for democracy --- free lunch, economic city, immature citizens, oriental values being incongruent with western democracy, etc. Let us face the reality. The current political system that is meticulously designed to resist any elected legislature’s “intervention” into a non-democratically formed executive-led government has produced nothing but unpopular and ineffective
governance.
Change of chief executives did not prove to work. The morale of civil service has hit historic lows. Solutions to so many long-term policy problems in Hong Kong have been either swept under carpet or delayed time and again. Even giving out sweeteners such as waiving levies on foreign domestic helpers ridiculously had become a political nightmare. All these are due to a simple fact that chief executives have no sufficient legitimacy to deal with a modernised
and demanding population. Whoever is blessed by Beijing to become the future Chief Executive can only expect more time bombs and daunting problems in governance.
Why Hong Kong people should look up to you to strive for democracy? Plainly, no one would seriously believe that the incumbent Chief Executive would pursue this. There is little political incentive for the incumbent to take the risk, unless he were the one with moral courage. Your political future, however, will be more difficult than his has been. When you govern Hong Kong, you would wish legitimacy of the political system would be improved and thus
political deadlock partially relieved through introducing universal suffrage in an acceptable form to Hong Kong people.
Those “boat-rocking” pan-democrats are debating on a goal-line strategy for fighting for universal suffrage. “Radical” strategies including resignation en masse have been cited as “ultimatum” for negotiation. Should Beijing defeat them again or reconcile with them?
Why should you persuade Beijing to negotiate with the “subversive elements”? Yes, the alliance of pro-democracy activists is not difficult to break and their credibility may be on the line. Anyway, they never have a real chance to win in elections of Chief Executive even when universal suffrage is implemented.
Nonetheless, these fighters for democracy for two decades are your better-known opponents, whom you can reason with on the negotiation table. Already in their 50s or older, many pro-democracy idealist-leaders have fairly elitist background and a good life. They have little illusion of becoming a ruling party. They (Long Hair included) have been by international, or Mainland Chinese and Taiwanese standards, moderate in their political struggles. They are loosely organised but still organised and predictable.
Imagine what would happen when their ultimatum fails, Beijing’s current opponents would lose public confidence further and eventually fade into political insignificance. Good news to you and Beijing?
Sorry, this will be the beginning of your nightmare.
Hong Kong people’s aspiration for democracy will not fade but become stronger after suppression for so many years. The rapid rise of League of Social Democrats is not because of its leaders but of the market. A new generation of probably younger activists, radicalised and bitter (due to frustrations in life since handover), may grow as a new “de-stablizing” force. The new radical pro-democracy force, no matter its size, will be organically networked rather than
conventionally organized. They will behave unpredictably. Governance difficulties in Hong Kong will compound.
The current generation of moderate pro-democracy leaders seem to struggle for “the final time.” They know time is not really on their, or Hong Kong’s, side. For Beijing and, for you, future Chief Executive, now is also the defining moment --- for either reconciliation or deterioration.
| 
