HK developments expose lie of China unification offers

The disappearance of five booksellers from a Hong Kong publishing house, Mighty Current – known for books critical of the Chinese communists – has made a lie of Beijing’s pre-1997 promise that life in the former British colony would remain unchanged for 50 years after it was returned to China.

Hong Kong is supposed to be a free society protected by its Basic Law – the city’s mini-constitution – from intervention by Beijing into its legal, social and economic systems. But evidence now shows it is wishful thinking to believe the Chinese communists will respect the autonomy as pledged.

Concern in Hong Kong was already high after four booksellers disappeared while on visits to Thailand and mainland China last year. But the latest and fifth disappearance – of Lee Bo – has shocked the city.

Lee is believed to have been kidnapped by mainland Chinese law enforcement officers acting “illegally” in Hong Kong and smuggled across the border to the mainland.

If that is the case, no one – particularly pro-democracy activists – is safe now in Hong Kong. Neither the high fences that line the border separating the city and the mainland nor the Basic Law can provide any protection.

Such fears have not been eased by the fact that the city government leader, Chief Executive CY Leung, is more inclined to please the Chinese communists than to defend the rights of Hong Kong citizens.

His iron-fisted crackdown on the pro-democracy Umbrella Movement in late 2014 earned him strong support in Beijing but further estranged him from Hong Kongers.

In a belated response to speculation over Lee’s disappearance he said that Hong Kong could not accept mainland officers enforcing the law in the city. He was likely merely paying lip service.

Hong Kong is already witnessing the extinction of rule of law. A debate on whether the chief executive is above the law has been overtaken by the facts: there is no longer any doubt that China’s communist rulers are absolutely above the law of Hong Kong.

Beijing’s eagerness to silence all dissent in the mainland has spread to Hong Kong. It has already succeeded in creating a chilling effect, prompting many other bookstores in the city to stop selling titles critical of the mainland regime.

That won’t stop Hong Kong’s pro-democracy campaigners, though the activists must have realised by now that protection under the Basic Law can no longer be taken for granted. We would no longer be surprised if the Umbrella Movement’s young leader Joshua Wong (or any other pro-democracy activist) disappeared without a trace.

Beijing has never shown much interest in democracy; now, even maintaining the illusion of the one-country-two-systems model seems too much bother.

The model has proven to be too troublesome – a system too subversive for a Chinese regime that gives priority to tight control over basic freedoms.

For those of us in Taiwan who take such freedoms for granted, such a system might appeal only if it was fully respected by Beijing. But the growing evidence from Hong Kong tells us that the Communist Party of China cannot be trusted.

Leaders in Beijing must also be aware that their pledges lack credibility. They must already have realised that the one-country, two-systems model stands almost no chance of being accepted by the people of Taiwan.