Regina Ip

Opinion | 2014 Occupy protests and 2019 unrest leave no doubt Chinese patriots must rule Hong Kong

Beijing’s requirement that Hong Kong’s leaders must love the country and Hong Kong is not new, only emphasised now after repeated attacks on the city’s law and order

To ensure ‘one country, two systems’ can continue, the SAR must choose a leader that’s not just capable, but also trusted by the central government

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Chief Executive Carrie Lam (centre, in pink) and other top government officials attend the National Day flag-raising ceremony at Golden Bauhinia Square in Wan Chai on October 1 last year. In the wake of the 2014 Occupy protests, Lam’s election in 2017 failed to heal the rifts in society. Photo: Nora Tam

Regina Ip

Published: 9:15am, 7 Feb 2021Updated: 9:15am, 7 Feb 2021

Hong Kong will choose its next leader in March next year. As the election of this sixth-term chief executive draws near, the requisite qualities of a chief executive have again become a hot topic of discussion in political circles.

In recent official statements on the prerequisites of the office, patriotism has emerged as the paramount quality. The most significant comment came from President Xi Jinping, who said at his virtual meeting last month with Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor that Beijing’s jurisdiction over Hong Kong – and Hong Kong’s constitutional order based on China’s Constitution and the Basic Law – can only be established if patriots rule Hong Kong.

Last November, at a legal summit marking the 30th anniversary of the Basic Law, all heavyweight speakers from Beijing made reference to Deng Xiaoping’s remarks in the 1980s that the principal positions in the Hong Kong government must be filled by patriots.

In a recent special edition of the state-owned journal Bauhinia Tribune on the issue, two contributors expanded on the logic for Deng’s insistence on patriots ruling Hong Kong, and the necessity of applying this doctrine to Hong Kong at this point in time.

One of the contributors, Zhang Xiaoshuai, recalled in detail Deng’s remarks on patriotism. In Deng’s view, a patriot is someone who genuinely respects the Chinese race and supports China’s sovereignty over Hong Kong; loves the motherland and Hong Kong; and would not do anything to undermine Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability.

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The emphasis on patriotism appears at first blush to be a departure from the broader and more inclusive requirements for the chief executive enunciated by Wang Guangya, then head of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, in December 2016. In an interview with Bauhinia Magazine , Wang said a chief executive candidate must love the country and Hong Kong; is trusted by the central government; has the ability to govern Hong Kong, and; enjoys the support of the people of Hong Kong.