What does the mainland want out of Hong Kong? If I tell you what Chinese leaders want is nothing but Hong Kong's stability and prosperity, some would consider it just lip service. But judging from events throughout the past 55 years, this is exactly what they have done.

One may argue that no government policy is designed out of altruistic considerations and China's Hong Kong policy is no exception.

In 1949, when the Chinese Communist Party took over the country, the People's Liberation Army, at the direct orders of Chairman Mao, did not go across the border from Shenzhen to recover Hong Kong from the British. Since then, the mainland has adopted the long-term policy of "keeping the status quo and making full use" of Hong Kong.

Beijing has long been the guardian angel of Hong Kong. During the three-year famine in the early 60s, Hong Kong was never short of cheap agricultural supplies from the mainland. This policy continued even during the height of the "cultural revolution" (1966-1976) when the British Embassy in Beijing was burnt by the Red Guards.

It was the British who brought up the issue of Hong Kong after 1997 when Governor Murray MacLehose visited Beijing in 1979, and this led to the establishment of the SAR and the present "One Country, Two Systems". But the logic remains the same. China wants to make full use of Hong Kong for its modernization drive, and a stable and prosperous Hong Kong is in the best interest of the country.

After the handover, it is the responsibility of the central government to maintain the stability and prosperity of the SAR, and to fend off anything that might impair it.

If the executive-led government headed by a powerful chief executive does its job well in Hong Kong, the central government will be more than happy to sit in the background with its fingers crossed.

But once it senses that Hong Kong's stability and prosperity may be in danger, it would lose no time and fix it. This has been the long self-designated role of the central government, for the best interests of Hong Kong and ultimately the whole country.

If we understand this logic, all that has happened since the handover is clear.

But to some people, the benign neglect mode on the part of the central government is being construed as "you should not meddle" and "you may not meddle". The "high degree of autonomy" is being secretly transformed into "complete autonomy". This is what the British failed to achieve through negotiation and finesse, and the central government cannot let the democrats get away with it this time through hijacking the public.

Once the central government switched from its benign neglect mode to involvement, many people would feel quite uncomfortable and complain about autonomy being eroded.

If we do not like the current situation, we have to find a way to convince the central government to switch back to non-involvement.

This is not as difficult as we may think. All we have to do is to make the central government comfortable that, first of all, the elite participating in the governance of the SAR are patriotic in the sense that they do not challenge the legitimacy and authority of the central government, do not support Taiwan independence, and do not collaborate with foreign elements.

Secondly, Hong Kong citizens are ready, willing and able to work together harmoniously to run the city well to ensure stability and prosperity.

Again, this is much less complicated than what it appears. All we have to do is to pick a chief executive who is both popular here in Hong Kong and, at the same time, highly regarded by the central government.

Previously, anybody who wins the rapport of the central leadership was likely to be the target of stigmatization by the democrats and the mainstream Chinese media. Any chief executive, no matter how capable he is, can never please both sides at the same time.

The democrats will claim this is only a conspiracy theory, and if this is the case, it is up to the democrats to demonstrate their sincerity in building a better Hong Kong under "One Country, Two Systems", and in striving to fulfil the above necessary conditions. In turn, they will be rewarded with a quickened pace of democratization.

The next chief executive to be elected in 2007 is going to be crucial. He has to be acceptable to the central government, and to be able to gain the support of most Hong Kong citizens including the democrats to be effective not only to govern the SAR, but also to revert the central government to benign neglect mode.

Put the other way, if they sincerely want democracy, the democrats will have to work with the next chief executive instead of against him as they are doing now.

As far as the central government, it has a very big job in running a rapidly developing country of 1.3 billion, and it would rather be in the benign neglect mode as it was in the past six years.

(HK Edition 05/31/2004 page11)