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February 25, 2004

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Checklist

The now copyright-free SCMP reports Xinhua, China's fair and balanced mouthpiece, has kindly created a checklist for all those not sure if they are patriotic Hong Kongers.

Before we get started, the literal definition of the word is "Love of country; devotion to the welfare of one's country; the virtues and actions of a patriot; the passion which inspires one to serve one's country."

Our friends in the CCP have a few caveats for HK patriotism:

The Xinhua commentary, written by Tang Hua, deputy chief editor of Outlook magazine, spelled out what it sees as "objective and clear criteria" for patriots. They included:
# Pledging allegiance to the Hong Kong SAR;
# Loving China and Hong Kong, upholding the Basic Law and supporting China's resumption of sovereignty over Hong Kong;
# Supporting "one country, two systems".
# Anyone who participated in any action aiming at subverting the central government or changing the socialist system on the mainland would be regarded as failing to uphold and abide by the Basic Law and contravening the "one country, two systems" principle;
# Meeting Basic Law requirements for office such as being a Hong Kong permanent resident with no criminal record.
There you have it. If you have had a labotomy and are prepared to kowtow to Beijing there's a spot for you in Hong Kong's Government. According to the CCP, patriotism is not just love of one's country but more importantly it is love of one's Communist Party first. Independent thought is not to be tolerated, even in China's first "one country, two systems" experiment. It's actually now hard to see what the "two systems" are - it very much seems these days that HK is simply just another Chinese city and being a "Special Administrative Region" means very little.

Ironically the CCP can't make it's mind up which is more important, country or party. From the bowels of the SCMP comes this in the lead up to the National People's Congress, the rubber stamp parliament of China.

Proposed revisions to the constitution have triggered a heated debate in the Communist Party over its supremacy as the ruling party.

The National People's Congress will almost certainly ratify amendments to the constitution at its annual session next month, adding protection of human rights and private property and enshrining former president Jiang Zemin's theory of the Three Represents.

As a sidenote, the Three Represents was Jiang Zemin's attempt to appear profound. It actually simply means the CCP can accepts businesspeople as members.
What has proved contentious is whether the party should submit itself to the constitution as the nation moves towards rule of law by protecting human rights and private property. The debate epitomises both the promise and limitations of the leadership of President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao. When Mr Hu made his first public appearance after becoming party general secretary in October 2002, he chose to speak on the 20th anniversary of the 1982 constitution. The timing of the speech sparked hopes that the rule of law would be the hallmark of the new leadership.

But hardliners closely linked to the General Office of the Central Committee are pushing to maintain the party's supremacy. They argue that the party holds a unique position in uniting the nation...In their eyes, yielding power to the constitution would weaken the party. Without a strong party to guide the nation, the country could disintegrate, they argue. They acknowledge that some party members have abused their power but believe corruption should be dealt with internally.

Rule of law is a dangerous concept in China and the hardliners are right - it will mean the eventual end of the CCP's control. The more immediate problem is in China the line between the CCP and the State is still extremely blurred which leads to corruption and acts as a brake on investment and growth. Not that it's getting in the way of the current China bubble but it will be the bubble's downfall.

China is not a nation like any other and the CCP is not a Government like any other. The HK patriotism debate shows that clearly enough.

posted by Simon on 02.25.04 at 09:18 AM in the




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