Hong Kong independence

Not to be confused with Hong Kong Autonomy Movement.

Hong Kong independence (Chinese: 香港獨立) is an emerging movement in Hong Kong that advocates Hong Kong becoming an independent sovereign state. Hong Kong is a special administrative region (SAR) which enjoys "high autonomy" under the People's Republic of China (PRC) since the transfer of the sovereignty of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the PRC in 1997. Since the handover, many Hongkongers are concerned about Beijing’s growing encroachment on the territory’s freedoms and the failure of the Hong Kong government to deliver democracy.

In the wake of the 2014–15 Hong Kong electoral reform which Beijing restricted the electoral method for the Chief Executive of Hong Kong (CE), the highest-ranking official of the territory, and sparked the 79-day massive protests which was dubbed as the "Umbrella Revolution", pro-independence movement emerged on the Hong Kong political scene. According to a survey survey conducted by the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) in July 2016, around one-sixth of Hong Kong’s population support the city becoming an independent entity after 2047.

History

Colonial period

See also: History of Hong Kong

Hong Kong Island was first ceded as a crown colony to Britain from the Qing Empire in 1841 during the First Opium War. The other parts of Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories were ceded permanently and leased for 99 years to Britain in 1860 Convention of Peking and 1898 Second Convention of Peking respectively. Although the Chinese government, governed by the Kuomintang led by Chiang Kai-shek initially intended to take back the territory, Britain resumed control of Hong Kong in 1945 after the Second World War, in which Hong Kong was occupied by Japan for three years and eight months. There were few advocates for Hong Kong independence during the post-war period, notably Ma Man-fai and the Hong Kong Democratic Self-Government Party in the 1960s but the fruitless movement ceased to exist without substantial support.

In the last year of the 1970s to early 1980s, the question of Hong Kong sovereignty emerged on Hong Kong's political scene as the end of the New Territories lease was approaching. Before that, Hong Kong and Macau were both removed from the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories, in which territories on the list would have the right to be independent, on 2 November 1972 by request of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Although there were advocacies for Hong Kong independence, the majority of the Hong Kong population, many of whom were political, economic or war refugees from the Chinese Civil War and the Communist regime on the mainland China, wished to maintain the status quo. The request for a Hong Kong representative in the Sino-British negotiation was rejected by Beijing. In 1984, the British and Chinese governments signed the Sino-British Joint Declaration which stated that the sovereignty of Hong Kong should be transferred to the PRC on 1 July 1997, and Hong Kong should enjoy "high autonomy" under the "One Country, Two Systems" principle.

From 1983 to 1997, Hong Kong saw an influx of emigrants to overseas countries, especially in the wake of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, which more than a million Hongkongers showed up on the streets to support to student protesters in Beijing. The Tiananmen incident also led to the emergence of the local democracy movement, which demanded a faster pace of democratisation before and after 1997.

After 1997

See also: Democratic development in Hong Kong and Localism in Hong Kong

Since 1997, the implementation of the Hong Kong Basic Law Article 45 and Article 68, which stated that the Chief Executive (CE) and the Legislative Council (LegCo) should be chosen by universal suffrage, dominated the political agenda in Hong Kong. The pro-democracy camp, one of the two largest political alignments in the territory, has called for the early implementation of the universal suffrage since the 1980s. After more than 500,000 people protested against the legislation of national security law as stipulated in the Basic Law Article 23 on 1 July 2003, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC) in April 2004 ruled out universal suffrage before 2012.

Since 2003, many Hongkongers perceived Beijing's growing encroachment on the Hong Kong's management of its own political, economic, and social affairs and the erosions of the their freedoms. In 2009 and 2010, the construction of the Hong Kong section of the high-speed rail link to Guangzhou (XRL) escalated to a series of massive protests. Many protesters accused of the Hong Kong government spending HK$69.9 billion (US$9 billion) for a unnecessary railway just to please Beijing. Some also feared it was for the People's Liberation Army to mobilise its troop quicker. In 2012, the government's plan to carry out moral and national education sparked controversy as it was accused of praising the Communist Party of China and Chinese nationalist ideology on the one hand, and condemning democracy and "western values' on the other.

In 2011, there was an emergence of localist sentiments, some of them took the anti-immigration nativist stance, fearing mainland Chinese new immigrants, tourists and parallel traders would threaten the established institutions and social customs of Hong Kong. In 2011, scholar Chin Wan published On the Hong Kong City-State to argue for a "localist" perspective and to abandon the "Chinese national sentiment". It triggered fierce public debate and was popular among the young generation.

Emergence of pro-independence movement

The Undergrad, the official publication of the Hong Kong University Students' Union (HKUSU), from February 2014, published a few articles on the subject of a Hong Kong nation including “The Hong Kong nation deciding its own fate” and “Democracy and Independence for Hong Kong”. Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying used his 2015 New Year’s policy address to direct harsh criticism at the magazine for promoting Hong Kong independence, fanning both the debate and sales of the book Hong Kong Nationalism which featured the articles.

On 31 August 2014, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC) set restriction on the electoral method of the Chief Executive, in which any candidate should be screen through by a Beijing-controlled nominating committee before standing in the election. The NPCSC decision triggered a historic 79-days occupation protest which was dubbed as "Umbrella Revolution". The failure of the campaign for a free and genuine democracy strengthened the pro-independence discourse, as they view it as the failure of the "One Country, Two Systems" and an independent state is the only way out.

The Undergrad again published an article in March 2016 headed “Hong Kong Youth’s Declaration” argues for Hong Kong independence on expiry of the Sino-British Joint Declaration in 2047. It demands a democratic government be set up after 2047 and for the public to draw up the Hong Kong constitution. It also denounces the Hong Kong government for becoming a “puppet” of the Communist Party, “weakening” the city’s autonomy. Leung Chun-ying dismissed the claim, stating that “Hong Kong has been a part of China since ancient times, and this is a fact that will not change after 2047.”

In the 2016 Legislative Council election, six pro-independence activists were disqualified, including Hong Kong Indigenous' Edward Leung and Hong Kong National Party's Chan Ho-tin, by the Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC), in which the government argued that their pro-independence stances did not comply with the Basic Law Article 1 which stated that Hong Kong being an inalienable part of China and Legislative Council Ordinance (Cap. 542) § 40(1)(b) which required all candidates to uphold the Basic Law and pledge allegiance to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. On 5 August, the Hong Kong pro-independence activistslaunched a rally which was dubbed “first pro-independence rally in Hong Kong” and drew about 2,500 people.

Support for independence

Political parties supported Hong Kong independence included Hong Kong Indigenous, Hong Kong National Party and Youngspiration. Youngspiration called for the right to self-determination on Hong Kong sovereignty. Localist activist group Civic Passion has expressed its support for Hong Kong independence before, but in the 2016 Legislative Council election, the group called for the amendment of the Basic Law of Hong Kong through civil referendum. Demosisto also calls for the right to self-determination to determine Hong Kong's future after 2047 when the One Country, Two Systems principle as promised in the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Hong Kong Basic Law is supposed to expire, although the party does not have an official stance on whether it supports an independent Hong Kong. Other parties such as the Alliance of Resuming British Sovereignty over Hong Kong and Independence (BSHI) and the Hong Kong Independence Party call for the return to the British rule.

According to a survey survey conducted by the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) in July 2016, around one-sixth of Hong Kong’s population support the city becoming an independent entity after 2047.

Reasons

Reasons that have been cited in favour of independence include:

• Right to self-determination: Hong Kong people's right to determine their own future. Hong Kong was on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories before it was taken down on the request of the People's Republic of China in 1972.
• Illegitimacy of the Sino-British Joint Declaration and Basic Law: Hong Kong people were barred from negotiating over the Sino-British Joint Declaration over Hong Kong's sovereignty and were also barred from drafting the Hong Kong Basic Law.
• Unrepresentativeness of the Hong Kong government: the Chief Executive of Hong Kong is elected by the 1200-member Election Committee which is controlled by Beijing does not represent the general view of the Hong Kong people. About half of the seats in the Legislative Council of Hong Kong are elected through trade-based functional constituencies with limited electorates also heavily favour pro-Beijing politicians.
• Chinese suppression on of Hong Kong people's views: Chinese government's growing encroachment on the Hong Kong's management of its own political, economic, and social affairs and failed to deliver free election as promised in the Basic Law.
• Hong Kong's distinct identity: Hong Kong people are majority Cantonese speakers and write in traditional Chinese with heavy influence of western culture and values, which is very different from the mainland Chinese. They also perceived that the distinctive Hong Kong identity is under threat of the influx of the mainland immigrants and tourists as well as the "assimilation policies" of the Hong Kong government.

Opposition to independence

The Chinese government, Hong Kong SAR government and pro-Beijing camp firmly opposes Hong Kong independence. Former Chinese paramount leader Deng Xiaoping opposed British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's alternative proposals during the Sino-British negotiation in the early 1980s as he believed she "wanted to turn Hong Kong into some kind of an independent or semi-independent political entity".

After the establishment of the Hong Kong National Party in March 2016, an editorial piece in the Chinese government-owned Global Times slammed the Hong Kong National Party by stating that it is "impossible to achieve" independence for Hong Kong and calling it "a practical joke" and "forefront of extremism". The State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office issued a statement through the official Xinhua News Agency condemning the party: "The action to establish a pro-independence organisation by an extremely small group of people in Hong Kong has harmed the country’s sovereignty, security, endangered the prosperity and stability of Hong Kong, and the core interests of Hong Kong... It is firmly opposed by all Chinese people, including some seven million Hong Kong people. It is also a serious violation of the country’s constitution, Hong Kong’s Basic Law and the relevant existing laws."

The Hong Kong government issued a statement after the formation of the party, stating that "any suggestion that Hong Kong should be independent or any movement to advocate such 'independence' is against the Basic Law, and will undermine the stability and prosperity of Hong Kong and impair the interest of the general public… The SAR Government will take action according to the law.”

The mainstream pan-democracy camp sympathised with the pro-independence cause but generally opposes Hong Kong independence as they do not think it will be beneficial to Hong Kong or it is achievable. They believe that to fight for genuine democracy and safeguard the high autonomy under the "One Country, Two Systems" principle is the most foreseeable solution.

Reasons

• Chinese nationality: Most Hong Kong people are of Chinese origin and are deeply connected with the Chinese history and culture.
• Chinese prosperity: China is becoming the next superpower and Hong Kong people can also benefit from the economic growth of China.
• "One Country, Two Systems": Hong Kong is the only territory in the People's Republic of China that enjoys high degrees of autonomy and freedom due to the "One Country, Two Systems". It is the only system that can serve the best interest for Hong Kong people and Hong Kong's prosperity and stability in the long term.
• Lack of self-sufficiency: Hong Kong has lack of natural resources and is heavily reliant on China in terms of food, water and electricity supplies.
• Chinese opposition: The Beijing government's zero tolerance on any secessionist movement means that a real independence movement will mean bloodshed and revolution. It would be a high price that not everyone would like to pay.

See also

• Politics of Hong Kong