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Shanmugam: 
Beijing’s position on HK understandable

Foreign Affairs and Law Minister 
K Shanmugam spoke about how 
China views the Occupy Central movement in Hong Kong in an exclusive 
interview with Lianhe Zaobao published on Saturday.

Protesters at New York’s Times Square last week calling for a stop to the repression 
of Hong Kong activists. China is not going to institute any major political change to copy Western models in the short term. Photo: AP

Protesters at New York’s Times Square last week calling for a stop to the repression
of Hong Kong activists. China is not going to institute any major political change to copy Western models in the short term. Photo: AP

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Foreign Affairs and Law Minister 
K Shanmugam spoke about how 
China views the Occupy Central movement in Hong Kong in an exclusive 
interview with Lianhe Zaobao published on Saturday.

He said Beijing would approach the Special Administrative Region with the perspective that what it allows there could have an impact on the rest of the nation, so Beijing would be careful. He also noted that there had been much anti-China bias in Western media reports on the issue. Below is an excerpt of his comments in the Chinese-language daily.

There has been a lot of anti-China bias in Western media reports on the Occupy Central movement in Hong Kong.

The reports have made the usual points that Beijing is denying the Special Administrative Region democracy and this has an impact on the freedoms that have helped the city become successful.

The truth is that, in the past 150 years, Hong Kong did not have democracy. The city did fine. Britain and the media did not think the territory needed democracy.

The Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984 on the handover of Hong Kong from Britain to China also did not mention universal suffrage.

What Beijing is proposing (to allow Hong Kong voters to elect its future Chief Executive from a list of two or three candidates selected by a nominating committee) is more than what Hong Kong ever had under the 
British. The Western media has not 
reported these.

CHINA’S PERSPECTIVE 
is UNDERSTANDABLE

From the Chinese leadership’s perspective, the priorities for the country would be to ensure unity, progress and a better life for the nation’s 1.3 billion people.

The primary requirement for this is governance with a system of checks and balances. At this stage, China’s leadership thinks full multi-party elections will set the country back from achieving its goals.

Today, China’s gross domestic product per capita is about US$6,800 (S$8,720). Its leaders will want to achieve the goal of becoming a moderately prosperous country before they contemplate any move to democratise. And China will look at two examples that will confirm its view.

The first is the United States, where partisan politics has led to dysfunctionality in government and, for years, an inability to pass a budget, fix the budget deficit, handle immigration reform, provide quality primary education at state schools as well as handle crime and violence.

America is also not able to look at the longer term and plan for that because of short electoral cycles.

China will look at all this and say a poorer, less developed country cannot afford the luxury of such 
dysfunctionality.

The next example Beijing will look at is the Soviet Union. What happens if political restructuring precedes economic restructuring and growth?

From an outsider’s perspective, the Soviet Union broke up. Russia was seen as weak and Western powers no longer gave Moscow the attention or respect that it probably should have received.

So, China will be firm. It is not going to institute any major political change to copy Western models in the short term. The leadership will believe that any such move will be disastrous for China and will hurt its people.

Beijing will approach Hong Kong with this perspective — it cannot allow the city to change the system in China. And what it allows in Hong Kong can have an impact on the rest of the country.

So, Beijing will be very careful. It is unlikely to give in to the demands of protesters. From the Chinese leadership’s perspective, giving in to demands may affect the stability of China as a whole.

This perspective is entirely understandable. How should protesters’ demands be viewed? First, there needs to be a clear understanding that China has acted in accordance with the Basic Law.

If Hong Kongers want a change from the Basic Law, they have to recognise that the city is part of China. There are some things Beijing will accept and some that are red lines for China.

There also needs to be a clear understanding of Hong Kong’s extreme reliance on China for jobs and a livelihood, as well as Beijing’s largesse towards the city even while an anti-China mood has been stoked.

Is the average Hong Konger prepared for the trade-offs? China, of course, views protesters with suspicion and wonders whether Western countries have anything to do with some aspects of the protests.

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