Political context

Following China's military defeat at the hands of Britain in the first and second Opium Wars (1839-42 and 1856-60), Hong Kong was placed under British colonial rule. It was within this context that Hong Kong experienced World War I, World War II, postwar refugee influxes, the embargo on young communist China in the 1950s, two significant riots in the 1960s, and an economic upswing in the 1970s. By the time of China's resumption of sovereignty on 1 July 1997, in accordance with Sino-British Joint Declaration, Hong Kong had become one of the world's leading cities. The first chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa, launched the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) administration by setting up grand development plans for the city. From a pledge to provide 85,000 housing units each year to proposals for a Cyberport science park and a Chinese medicine centre, Tung attempted to institute longer-term visions for a city renowned for transience and pragmatism. Unfortunately, many of these plans were derailed or modified because of objective problems or reluctance among the people of Hong Kong, who were either not ready or of a different mind than Tung. Various crises, ranging from economic to epidemiological, have plagued the place since 1997. Economically, Hong Kong suffered from the Asian financial crisis that began in Thailand straight after Hong Kong's handover in July 1997, and generated a period of economic turbulence and decline in the city. GDP fell by 4.8% in 1998 and by 2.6% in 1999. An increase of 3.4% in 2000 proved to be short-lived, and was followed by declines of 1.4% in 2001, 1.8% in 2002 and 2.2% in 2003 (Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department, 2004: Table 18.1). However, the increase of 5.1% in 2004 looked more solid (Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department, 2005). The unemployment rate (not seasonally adjusted) rose from 4.7% in 1998 to 7.9% in 2003 (Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department, 2004: Table 2.2), though by September 2005 it had fallen back to 5.7% (Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department, 2005). If economic prosperity had served the colonial government well as a buffer against political challenges, the Tung administration was not so fortunate. Further, social inequalities appear to have increased over the years. The Gini coefficient, commonly used to indicate income inequalities, is a value between "0" and "1", with "0" representing a state of absolute equality and "1" absolute inequality. In Hong Kong it went up from 0.518 in 1996 to 0.525 in 2001, ranking the city above only 16 developing countries from South America and Africa (World Bank, 2001: Table 2.8). In 2004, however, the coefficient dropped to 0.5 (Wikipedia, 2004). It is commonly believed that political space in Hong Kong has been greatly constricted since 1997. For example, attempts to legislate Article 23 of the Basic Law, Hong Kong's mini-constitution, were widely perceived as threats to individual freedom and subsequently aroused substantial public controversy. The arguments culminated in a demonstration on 1 July 2003, in which half a million of Hong Kong's people took to the streets to voice their grievances. On 1 July 2004, another demonstration attracted 200,000 participants according to the figures of the Hong Kong Police Force. People have accused the SAR government of missteps leading to Hong Kong's economic decline, deterioration of the rule of law, and sluggish development of democratisation. Data collected by Civic Exchange showed that in June 1997, 66% of respondents were satisfied with the overall performance of the government. Satisfaction then plunged to 30% in August 2000, and to 20% in November 2003 (Civic Exchange, 2004: Tables 9 and 10). However, figures revealed by the Hong Kong University Public Opinion Poll (HKUPOP) in May 2005 revealed a change in direction, with satisfaction climbing back to 35.4% (HKUPOP, 2005). Added to these difficulties were some unprecedented health considerations, notably Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which exposed the government's inability to cope with crisis and a lack of coordination between departments. On 10 March 2005, while Hong Kong appeared to be well on the road to economic recovery, rumours about Tung's resignation for health reasons were finally confirmed. By gaining the nomination of more than 700 of the 800- member Election Committee that is entrusted with electing the chief executive, Donald Yam-kuen Tsang, formerly chief secretary of the SAR government and, as commonly called, a "long-term old battery" of the Hong Kong colonial government, replaced Tung as the second chief executive unopposed. While Hong Kong people are looking to Tsang to lead Hong Kong down the road of recovery, it is necessary to review the experiences of the SAR over the past eight years. This chapter will outline the general context of changes in Hong Kong since 1997 and introduce the volume's structure and chapter material.