The Hong Kong Question Clarified

The Hong Kong Question  Clarified

 A Review of On the Question of Hong Kong

By Jan Freidun Taravosh  16th of December 2009.

“Let’s Apply Ourselves to work with one heart and one mind"

- Deng Xiaoping

The Hong Kong region once a British colony was reunited with the People’s Republic of China in 1997 and brought a new dynamic into Chinese Society. How was the reunification carried out and what made the smooth transition possible, what role does The Hong special Administrative region play for Chinas overall development and how does Hong Kongs colonial heritage interplay with socialism with Chinese characteristics. All questions are answer in this book, which advocates broad unity and development.  Authored by Deng Xiaoping the Chinese leader who came up with the one country two system policy which provided a solid foundation for a peaceful transfer from the colonial authorities,  Hong Kong as a special administrative region maintains a large amount of autonomy which corresponds to the specific conditions and requirements of the china PR, as a development country. Due to Hong Kong’s colonial heritage and history as a sea port town it’s economic infrastructure difference somewhat from that of mainland china. Studying the nature of the Hong Kong question removes many misconceptions of The people’s republic of China as a one dimensional society and further Comrade deng explains this without any complications.

The book teaches us that , one cannot always apply political theory by going by the book but must take reality into account in doing so - Comrade Deng takes the Chinese reality a large multiethnic country into account stresses the need for political stability and stable economic development and makes clear how a economic system cannot not be copied and applied mechanically. This is a fact proven by history. Turning to the specific conditions of Hong Kong Comrade Deng explained: “in addition to stable economic development, Hong k needs a stable political system. As I have said, at present Hong Kong has a political system that is differ from the ones in Britain  and united states and will not copy any western system in the future arbitrarily copying western systems would cause unrest”

When Deng formulated the policy of one country two systems, he had a broad sighted definition of national unity in mind, i.e he motivated his position by explaining how forcing a political system on one another will only cause unrest and instability. Taking into account the Chinese realities and the realities of Hong Kong was taking in to account, and thus made a smooth transition from colonial power to sovereignty possible, without alienating the general public, or causing conflict, but instead promoting mutual understanding and cultural exchange on the basis of mutual benefit. Turning to the specific conditions that the people’s republic finds itself in as a developing country as in with the question of reunification, Comrade Deng as always stressed the need of thinking out of the box when it comes to developing the productive forces and the economy.  “we have opened some cities to the outside world on condition that  socialist econonomy remains dominant there. These cities will not change their socialist nature on the contrary the policy of opening to the outside  world will favour the growth of the socialist economy there” The hong Kong special administrave region place a unique role in the dynamic society that is the People’s Republic of China although a short pamflett 62 pages exluding the footnotes the book is as easy to read as it is informative, the book in an easily acessable way shows that there is far more  diversity to the China PR compared to what is usually recognised in the west. One for instance chapter in the book explains the basic difference of the Socialist democracy according to chinese realities and the western bourgiose and  democracy. the taiwan question is also breifly introduced anf question that would be further elaborated by Comrade Jiang Zemin in later years

 

This book was published by foreign languge press in 1993 and is a great,  inspirational and educational   read I two used to have a very one sided view on china before, but this was one of the books that really changed this for me. Comrade Jiang explains how the concept of one country and two systems was developed answering to the chinese realities and development conditions, this is important to keep in mind when reading this book -  and remeber think out of the box! this book shows a dynamic side of the Chinese society which is rarely talked about in the west, and as such it is a very enlightening read. It is good to know the basis of scientific socialism and chinese history before reading it, yet one does not have to be an expert, and the foot notes are helpful for new comers to the subject. students of history or international relations will take intrest in the except provided here from the deliberates between the central people’s Governent and the U.K. Students of Scientific Socialism will especially be delighted to find Comrade dengs speech to the Central advisory commision of the Chinese communist party from 1984, The book was translated into english by bureau for the compilation and translation of works, of Marx,Engels, Lenin and Stalin under the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China  in other words it’s directly from the source.

 to put it short Highly recommended!. The basic principles are easily summed up

“our basic position on the question of Hong Kong is clear there are three major issues involved one is sovereignty another is the way in which china will administer Hong Kong as to maintain prosperity [...] and still another is the need for Chinese and British governments to hold appropriate discussions on ways to avoid major disturbances in Hong Kong. [...]"

 The Essense of unity is brought up the simplest of terms that i think anyone can relate to, for as Deng explains, “we have a slogan ‘ long live the great unity of the Chinese Nation’ Right? So long as we stand on  side of the Chinese nation and help  safeguard its   general interests, all of us regardless of our different political views and including those who critizise the Communist Party can unite.”

this is what makes it such a wonderful book - the content is acessible to anyone so don’t be a stranger!