《華爾街日報》：英國出賣香港 Britain's Betrayal of Hong Kong

Britain's Betrayal of Hong Kong

London fails to call Beijing on its broken promises of autonomy.

ENLARGE

Students take part in a rally at Chinese University of Hong Kong on Monday.GETTY IMAGES

A political showdown looms in Hong Kong. Beijing has stripped the city of the high degree of autonomy it promised in a 1984 treaty with the United Kingdom. Local residents are preparing a campaign of civil disobedience in protest. Yet London has failed to express even mild criticism of Beijing's treaty violation.

The people of Hong Kong overwhelmingly want to elect their next Chief Executive, a reform that until a month ago seemed within reach. On Monday university and secondary students began a week-long boycott of classes to demonstrate for democracy. A new poll from Chinese University shows that one-fifth of the population is considering emigration because of the city's uncertain future.

This turmoil is the result of Beijing's shock decision at the end of August to rig the 2017 Chief Executive election with the most antidemocratic system tabled by its local supporters. Only politicians who receive majority support from a committee packed with Beijing's supporters will be allowed to run.

Opinion Video

Editorial Page Writer David Feith on what the residents of Hong Kong need to do to preserve their freedoms. Photo credit: Getty Images.

The Communist Party's response to criticism is that any election conducted with universal suffrage is a step forward. The Sino-British Joint Declaration did not explicitly promise democracy, and the British didn't introduce elections for legislators until five years before their departure. So it is the "rankest hypocrisy," in the words of the Chinese ambassador to the U.K., for Chris Patten, the last colonial governor, to claim London has a moral responsibility to speak up for Hong Kong.

Yet the desire for greater democracy was the critical issue facing Hong Kong long before the 1997 handover. Beginning in 1985, a drafting committee of local residents and Chinese officials created a constitutional document, the Basic Law, reflecting the Sino-British Joint Declaration's promise of self-government. "How Hong Kong develops its democracy in the future is completely within the sphere of the autonomy of Hong Kong," Lu Ping, China's top official on Hong Kong matters, promised in the People's Daily in March 1993. "The central government will not interfere."

That's a promise Beijing broke. In 2004 it reinterpreted the Basic Law to mean that Hong Kong could not initiate political reform without its prior approval. In 2007 it ruled out elections in 2012. Last month's decree mandates a vetting system similar to the kind of "democracy" that exists in Iran, where thousands of candidates are routinely disqualified by the regime.

As a signatory to the Joint Declaration, only the U.K. has the legal standing to protest Beijing's broken promises. So how did London respond? For four days, the Foreign Office said nothing. Finally it put out a statement even more abject than silence: "We welcome the confirmation that China's objective is for the election of Hong Kong's Chief Executive through universal suffrage." Martin Lee, Hong Kong's doughtiest fighter for democracy, rightly summed up London's attitude as "kowtowing to Beijing for 30 pieces of silver."

It's true Britain's power to influence developments in Hong Kong is limited. Yet Beijing's xenophobic bluster shows that it still fears a principled statement from London to defend the territory's autonomy. Chinese media routinely accuse pro-democracy politicians of being funded by foreign "black money"—even as Beijing pumps money into local puppet groups.

When Margaret Thatcher agreed to return Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty, she defended the decision on grounds that the U.K. would hold Beijing to its treaty commitments. Count that as one more Thatcherite legacy her successors have failed to honor.

《華爾街日報》：英國出賣香港

【本報訊】大專學生發動罷課爭普選，國際傳媒高度關注，《華爾街日報》昨日的社評，除了轟北京剝奪香港高度自治，亦將矛頭指向英國政府，批評英國出賣香港，眼見北京違反《中英聯合聲明》，但英國政府竟連最溫和的批評也沒有。

指無視中方違反承諾

《華爾街日報》社評昨以「英國出賣香港」（Britain's Betrayal of Hong Kong，圖）為題，稱香港正進行一場公民不合作運動，希望爭取民主，英國身為1984年《中英聯合聲明》的簽署方，英政府有法律地位，抗議北京違反當年對香港承諾，但社論指英國外交部沉默數天後，才於本月初發出一份比沉默更糟透的聲明稱英政府歡迎中國落實普選香港特首的目標。
社評認為，北京不想外國為香港民主發聲，親北京媒體經常指控香港泛民主派，從外國收取政治捐款，形容那些是「黑金」，但另一方面又以金錢資助香港的親北京傀儡團體，支持北京政府。
社評承認，英國對香港發展可以發揮的影響力有限，但從北京當局表示不接受外國干涉內政的排外態度，可見北京仍擔憂英方就捍衞香港高度自治作出嚴正聲明。社評指英國前首相戴卓爾夫人同意歸還香港主權給中國時，曾就她的決定辯護，強調英國會要求北京恪守《中英聯合聲明》的承諾，但她的繼任者，明顯沒好好兌現這一項對香港人的承諾。 

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Bloomberg News

香港行政會議成員葉劉淑儀稱，抗議活動不可能說服中央政府改變就香港政改作出的決定。

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香港學生罷課活動凸顯特首選舉方案爭論的當下，兩名香港政客呼籲親民主陣營“向前看”，在選舉制度改革的下一階段與北京方面尋求妥協。 

香港行政會議成員葉劉淑儀(Regina Ip)稱，無論是學生還是活動團體“佔領中環”(Occupy Central)的抗議活動，都不可能說服中央政府改變其上個月就香港政改作出的決定——即香港特首人選必須先經由一個親北京委員會批準。 

葉劉淑儀表示，中國政府官員已非常明確地表態，中央不可能因佔領中環、剃頭、罷課等活動改變政改決定。葉劉淑儀還擔任親北京政黨新民黨(New People's Party)的主席。

不過她表示，提名委員會的組成仍有討論的空間，即暗示該委員會的1,200個席位有可能會被重新分配。她表示，政改為民主人士的參與留出了空間。本週她帶領一個香港代表團訪問北京，與全國人大常委員會委員長張德江等中央領導人舉行會晤。 

此外，另一名香港行政會議成員陳智思(Bernard Chan)指出，親民主候選人可以參加行政長官初期幾輪選舉。

他說，在初步選舉中會有論壇、民調和幾輪投票，一些親民主立法委員可以參加。

擬議的選舉改革將允許香港人在2017年首次選舉行政長官，但中國政府稱只有兩到三名候選人可以進入最后一輪選舉，而且候選人必須首先經過選舉委員會多數委員批準。中國政府曾警告稱，如果其提議被香港立法會否決，那么就將繼續實行現有制度，即由選舉委員會來選定行政長官。

陳智思說，不應專注于接納或拒絕中國政府的計劃，而是應當關注香港現有的選擇。他是香港特別行政區的全國人大代表，稱自己經常與中國大陸官員接觸。

陳智思擔心，如果香港居民現在不推進此事，那么香港的選舉規定可能需要很多年才會有所改變。

他說，過去30年中國在推進各項事情時一直都十分謹慎，無人敢犯錯。

今日是香港學生舉行為期一周的罷課活動的第二天，學生們坐在香港政府附近的區域聆聽有關民主和公民社會的演講。

在香港嶺南大學教授歷史的David Lloyd Smith做了有關喬治•奧威爾(George Orwell)的演講并將香港的民主發展比作朝鮮，朝鮮有正式的普選，但只有經過政府審查的人才能參選。

現年21歲、就讀香港科技大學(Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)商業專業的學生Christine Tong說，有關喬治•奧威爾的演講引起了她的共鳴。她說，香港政府就好比《動物莊園》(Animal Farm)裡的豬，利用自己的權力來壓制其他動物，違背自己的原則。

另一場關於莫罕達斯•甘地(Mohandas Gandhi)和公民抗命的演講也吸引了學生以及其他一些佩戴黃絲帶、支持“佔中”運動的人。

70多歲的離休人士方先生說，學生們為了香港的未來挺身而出，這很重要。

他說，學生們並不懶惰。

葉劉淑儀說，學生有權發表他們的觀點。

她說，中央政府完全尊重香港學生的運動，但香港是中國的一部分，而這一決定來自中國最高權力機構，學生們也需要尊重中央的決定。

Fiona Law / Isabella Steger