Off Centre | Confused by Hong Kong politics? Here’s all you need to know, right down to the basics
Kenny Hodgart takes a shot at explaining the quirks of the Hong Kong political system to often perplexed onlookers
I am often struck by how well-informed Hongkongers are about stuff happening elsewhere. After the referendums on Scottish independence and Brexit, for example, many here seem to have more of a grasp on Britain’s complex constitutional affairs than large swathes of the people who voted.
The complexity of Hong Kong’s own affairs is of a different order, however. For a city so inhabited and visited by foreigners, it seems to me that its political situation is not well-understood by onlookers and harder to grasp than most.
No doubt this is partly due to a lack of curiosity, and partly because international media takes only superficial notice. It’s also because politics here is a conversation that tends to defy the outsider points of access.
Taking to the streets: localists plan live broadcast of Olympic badminton match between Hong Kong and China – on Mong Kok pavement
Here, then, ahead of next month’s Legislative Council election, is my stab at a 10-point guide to Hong Kong politics for the ingenue and the bystander – and the hordes on social media baffled as to why the city has its own Olympic team.
1. Everything in Hong Kong revolves around the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution. Whenever any action is proposed, someone will protest that it is against the Basic Law.
