Word: basic
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...That sounds vague. It is, and deliberately so. When a joint committee of experts from Hong Kong and China wrote the document in the late 1980s, the clauses on democratic evolution were among the thorniest. The best the negotiators could produce were the vague formulations reproduced above. The Basic Law clearly offered Hong Kong the promise of direct elections. But it left the important questions?when and how?to years that seemed very distant back...
...however, China's leaders have decided to enter the lab and shake the beaker. This week, they are expected to announce a tweak to the Basic Law, the closest thing Hong Kong has to a constitution. Beijing says it's simply conducting an exercise in "interpretation." But the move has ignited a furious debate among Hong Kongers over its necessity, and has even sparked unrest. Last Thursday some 3,000 people held a candlelight vigil to protest what they feel is unwarranted Chinese interference, and the following day police forcibly removed 100 demonstrators besieging the main government office building...
...What's the issue? A very basic one: whether Hong Kong people will be allowed to directly elect their Chief Executive and all of their legislators. The Basic Law promises direct elections as an "ultimate aim." Currently, the Chief Executive is chosen by an 800-member electoral college that is overwhelmingly pro-Beijing, and 60% of the Legislative Council, or Legco, the territory's law-making body, is appointed or elected from business and social groups that strongly favor the status quo. The Basic Law says that setup can be changed "if there is a need...
...Legco, set for September, and that the democratic camp might end up dominating the legislature. Last month's messy presidential election in Taiwan?which, subject to a recount, gave victory to pro-independence incumbent Chen Shui-bian?probably didn't affect the timing of Beijing's tinkering with the Basic Law. But it undoubtedly reminded China's leaders of how troublesome they find democracy...
...China "interpreted" the Basic Law before? Yes, but in an utterly different circumstance. After the handover in 1997, thousands of mainlanders with a Hong Kong parent demanded the right of abode in Hong Kong. The territory's courts ruled in their favor. But the Hong Kong government asked Beijing to reinterpret the law to prevent the migrations, which it did. In that case, Hong Kong surrendered its judicial autonomy to China; Beijing merely obliged. Legal experts and libertarians were appalled but not the general public, because most Hong Kongers don't want to see more mainlanders coming to the territory...