Michael Chugani

Opinion | Has the definition of ‘patriots ruling Hong Kong’ narrowed under the national security law?

It seems that to qualify as a patriot in today’s surreal Hong Kong, you must support Carrie Lam and her policies, and avoid criticism of the Communist Party or the motherland. Things seem to have changed from Deng Xiaoping’s time

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Chief Executive Carrie Lam meets the press in Tamar before the Executive Council meeting on February 2. Photo: Nora Tam

Michael Chugani

Published: 10:45am, 4 Feb 2021Updated: 10:47am, 4 Feb 2021

Only patriots can govern Hong Kong. That was President Xi Jinping’s clear message to Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor during a virtual meeting last week. It’s not a new directive. Patriots ruling the city was a key part of the late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping’s vision for postcolonial Hong Kong.

But the insistence that only loyalists who love Hong Kong and China can rule has grown louder and more frequent, especially after the 2019 social unrest that began as mass peaceful opposition to the now-dead extradition bill but morphed into often violent anti-government protests.

Beijing loyalists who got thrashed in the November 2019 district council elections must be thrilled with Xi’s forceful message. They will have a greater chance of winning elections now that many opponents are likely to fail the patriotism test.

Such victories will surely be hollow: there will be no meaningful mandate, if voters boycott elections in droves or cast blank votes. That’s a big if, but I would gladly give loyalists my full support if they could prove in direct elections that they have the people’s backing.

To me, today’s definition of “patriots ruling Hong Kong” is far narrower than Deng’s visionary definition. Deng said we could criticise the Communist Party – it would survive the criticism – but only those who love Hong Kong and the country, and not those who seek to undermine it, could govern.

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I have absolutely no problem with that. As an American, I expect those who run the country to be patriots, although patriotism in the United States allows greater leeway. Americans can kneel in protest during the national anthem, burn the flag, and criticise the president.