Memoirs of a Loser 169: The Misconceptions of the Patriotic Democrats

After the transfer of sovereignty in 1997, the anti-communist movement in Hong Kong has always been dominated by the "patriotic democratic faction" until after 2010, the local faction emerged in Hong Kong and gradually became the mainstream among young people. In 2013, I published the book "Hong Kong Thought", with the introduction of "The Rise of Hong Kong's Local Consciousness from Scratch". About local consciousness, let's talk about it later.

Let’s talk about the social consciousness dominated by the patriotic democrats before 2010.

Since the 1997 issue surfaced in 1980, Hong Kong people have been struggling with the social ideology of anti-communism. At the beginning, Hong Kong people hoped that in the Sino-British negotiation, the United Kingdom would stay in some form after 1997, including "postponing the date of transfer of sovereignty", "exchange of sovereignty" and "continuing to stay in the Commonwealth after 1997". "and many more. At that time, the student leaders who were concerned about the fate of the nation in the tertiary education circle opposed colonialism from the concept, longed for democracy and nationalism, and supported China's "reclaiming sovereignty and governing Hong Kong with democracy." Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang wrote to the HKU: "Protecting the democratic rights of the people is the fundamental principle of our political life. In the future, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will implement a democratized political system, that is, what you call "governing Hong Kong by democracy". of."

Some people who have fantasies about the CCP, including naive students, think that the CCP is committed to democracy in Hong Kong. They all ignored the first half of the sentence: "Protecting the democratic rights of the people is the fundamental principle of our country's political life". This means that China is now "protecting the democratic rights of the people". In other words, the future "democratic governance of Hong Kong" in Hong Kong will also be inseparable from Chinese-style democracy. Therefore, my friends from the "Hong Kong Prospects Research Society" and writers like Ni Kuang do not believe Zhao Ziyang's words about "governing Hong Kong by democracy." Polls also show that most Hong Kong people do not believe in the promises of the CCP. The waves of immigration have come and gone. The “rise” is the Sino-British agreement and the June 4 massacre; the “fall” is because Hong Kong is still prosperous and has the opportunity to earn a living.

Let's break the topic and talk about Zhao Ziyang. After the 1989 pro-democracy movement, many people held a positive attitude towards Zhao Ziyang because he opposed the repression and stepped down for it. In fact, according to the declassified documents, Mrs. Thatcher (Taiwan's translation of Mrs. Thatcher) visited Beijing that year, and her main negotiating opponent was Zhao Ziyang. Seeing that Deng Xiaoping was only Deng's authoritative determination of Zhao's "1997 recovery of sovereignty". In other words, Zhao Ziyang told Hong Kong people "what to be afraid of" and "governing Hong Kong with democracy", which was the common intention of the CCP leadership, including himself.

Just like Hu Yaobang, although he appeared to be relatively open after the Cultural Revolution, he said in an interview with Lu Keng in 1985 that China's economy has become stronger and its national defense has become stronger. ”.

No matter how enlightened the CCP’s high-level leaders may have been, they have almost certainly carried out cruel policies in the long-term struggle to “create a sea of blood.” Many CCP members are very open-minded on the surface, and even their nature can be said to be not bad, but after joining this Lenin-style party, together they will do harm to the world.

In addition to Zhao Ziyang's reply to the Hong Kong University Students' Union, Deng Xiaoping said in 1984 when talking about "One Country, Two Systems" that "Hong Kong people must govern Hong Kong with patriots as the main body" to govern Hong Kong, and explained that "the standard of patriots is to respect their own nation." , sincerely support the motherland's resumption of the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong, without compromising Hong Kong's prosperity and stability. As long as these conditions are met, no matter whether they believe in capitalism, feudalism, or even slavery, they are patriots." He also said, "You can scold the Communist Party, but we are not afraid of them. The CCP cannot be beaten." What he means can be interpreted as Hong Kong people can "anti-Communist", as long as they don't "anti-China" they are patriots.

In the late period of the 1989 democracy movement, Hong Kong established the "Hong Kong Citizens Supporting Patriotic Democratic Movement Federation" (referred to as the Stake). On the one hand, most people in Hong Kong sympathize with the Chinese students’ anti-dictatorship and struggle for democracy. On the other hand, they are worried about the 1997 and despair of the drafting of the Basic Law. They hope that China can achieve democracy, which will bring democracy and freedom to Hong Kong after 1997. human rights and participate in stake activities.

The stake was "patriotic" and did not oppose China's "resumption of sovereignty over Hong Kong." Later, the Democratic Party, which was established as one with the stake, took the same line. The chairman of the stake, Szeto Wah, is the whip of the Democratic Party in the Legislative Council. Their line can be summed up as "anti-Communist, not anti-China". In line with Deng Xiaoping's patriotic standard of "can scold the Communist Party" but "respect one's own nation". Advocating democracy is not only in line with the Basic Law's goal of achieving universal suffrage for both the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council, but also does not violate Deng Xiaoping's "patriotic standard", and echoes the "democratic governance of Hong Kong" that the Chinese Premier once supported in his letter.

After 1997, the stake continued to hold the June 4th Candlelight Gala to raise the Chinese awareness of Hong Kong citizens. In 2000, Democratic Party Chairman Li Zhuming visited the United States to lobby members of Congress to support China's entry into the WTO and grant China permanent most-favored-nation status. Opinions are widely cited by members of Congress. At the end of the following year, China officially joined the WTO.

In May of the same year, the Legislative Council passed the "Oppose Taiwan Independence" motion with 43 votes in favor, none against, and 1 abstention. All pro-democracy lawmakers voted in favor, with only Ng Ai-yi abstaining, citing that the issue does not fall within the purview of the Hong Kong Legislative Council.

However, in the eyes of the CCP, these "patriotic" actions of the democrats do not count. In order to win Hong Kong public opinion and international recognition, the "patriot standard" that "can oppose the Communist Party but not China" does not count. Even the opposite. The CCP cares about the "community", not the "China". "Communist" means power, anti-communism, and democracy, all of which are to reduce the absolute power of the CCP, which is absolutely unacceptable. As for "patriotism", the concept of those in power in the CCP is to "love the party". If you don't "love the party" but "patriotic", such as lobbying in the United States for China's entry into the WTO, and "anti-Taiwan independence", the CCP is dispensable. If "patriotic" means loving the Chinese people, striving for freedom and democracy for the people, and opposing autocratic rule, especially if it proposes "returning power to the people," it is even more outrageous.

What the CCP says is exactly the opposite of what they think. If it is really democratic and returns power to the people, are there still privileges for the party and me?

(Original post published on July 8, 2022)

"Memoirs of a Loser" serial catalog (continuously updated)

160. Chen Fang Ansheng resigned, the civil service system collapsed

161. Woohoo! Hong Kong people are proud of the ICAC!

162. Seeing him rise from Zhulou, seeing his building collapse

163. What is the difference between the Governor of Hong Kong and the Chief Executive?

164. The Mystery of Tung Chee-hwa's Resignation (Part 1)

165. The Mystery of Tung Chee-hwa's Resignation (Part 2)

166. The mystery of Dong Xia Zeng Shang

167. In the second half of the political career, I think of Ni Kuang

168. A new record of tombstones in the cultural circle of Hong Kong

169. Misunderstandings of patriotic democrats