In 1997, when Britain returned Hong Kong to China, the United States stressed the need to ensure that the semiautonomous city would maintain a vigorous rule of law and a free market. "We will be watching it very closely," Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said then. Some 17 years later, such vigilance is as important as ever given growing concerns about press freedoms as well as interference from China in Hong Kong's internal affairs.
The responsibility to speak out against these trends falls mostly on Britain, which signed a joint agreement with China outlining a formula of "one country, two systems" that let Hong Kong keep its free-market economy, legal system and other rights alongside the mainland's repressive Communist system. The United States has also promised to promote the city's autonomy.
One major concern involves the election of the city's next leader. Although China promised to allow direct elections for the first time in 2017, it has indicated that it will limit the names on the ballot by retaining some version of Hong Kong's existing nominating committee. The panel is dominated by Beijing loyalists, and it is virtually certain that whatever replaces it would undermine popular will by ensuring only China-approved candidates. To its credit, the Obama administration has endorsed "progress toward genuine universal suffrage" as laid out in the Basic Law, Hong Kong's de facto constitution. But Britain lamentably has been less inclined to speak out.
The other concern involves press freedoms. In February, the Committee to Protect Journalists reported that China sometimes puts direct pressure on Hong Kong news media, while in other cases, journalists engage in self-censorship by curtailing reporting they fear would anger the government or prompt businesses to pull advertising. Recent attacks on media executives have raised alarms about the safety of journalists. Last month, two executives planning to launch a newspaper later this year were attacked by men with iron bars; in February, the former chief editor of the newspaper Ming Pao was critically wounded by knife-wielding assailants. Although police said they arrested two suspects in the February attack, most assaults on journalists have gone unsolved.
Hong Kong's position as a Chinese city with a free press and other rights has been central to its cultural vitality and success as a free-market economy. Ensuring it stays that way is in the interest of China, the business community and the West.
April 4, 2014
《紐約時報》社論