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    Beijing should play role of 'loving parent'

2004-06-07 06:41

For many democratic politicians, activities related to the 15th anniversary of the June 4 Incidence are a prelude to the July 1 big rally, and both are tools to gain more votes in the September LegCo election. This is politics, and electioneering is an accepted part of the game.

Admittedly, our government is getting weaker by the day, and with universal suffrage put on hold, it becomes easy to convince a growing number of people that even our next government is likely to be as inept. Politics is perception, and such feelings can be as real to some people as solid facts, as witnessed in the Allen Lee saga. Many people insisted that what really happened is not important, in fact not even relevant, but what Allen Lee felt was the issue.

Frustration is mounting - fuelled by various rumours, innuendoes and unsubstantiated allegations. The coming July 1 rally, though it may not be as big as last year, could still be quite large, in the region of six figures. The falling number, however, will spur the democratic politicians to try more outrageous and desperate measures to gain votes, to the detriment of everybody in Hong Kong.

To counter this populist madness, the Tung administration has to improve, and be seen to be making significant improvements. Many who have had recent contact with the government testified that it has become more responsive and more decisive. This is especially true for Tung.

According to some insiders, quite a few key issues have been settled promptly by orders from the Chief Executive Office. Yet Tung has become even more elusive, and more distant from the public. As a result, only a few can discern the recent improvements of the Tung administration.

As for the recent debate on constitutional development, Tung appeared to have been side-stepped by the central government, and whatever little role that is left with the SAR government, he delegated it all to the three-person task force headed by Chief Secretary Donald Tsang.

He came forth once in a while for a brief statement out of a script, and seldom responded to questions from reporters.

Lately, three radio talkshow hosts successively quit their job, leading to all sorts of speculation. The government, and in particular the chief executive, should have come out early to issue firmer statements and take sterner actions to dispel speculation.

And this is the job of the SAR government which cannot be taken over by the central government. In fact, fortunately Cheng Shousan, the retired official who made the late night phone call to Allen Lee, came forward to clarify matters, otherwise there is little that the central government could have done to prove it is innocent.

It is highly unfair, but there is nothing Beijing can do except to grind its teeth. As it is, the public is angry, because it is being misled to believe there is intimidation and cheating; and the central government is even angrier, because it has been deliberately framed, and there is no way out.

I do not like this and deem it irresponsible on the part of the democrats. But as I noted at the beginning, people get crazy near election time. This is the price we will have to pay for this imperfect system called democracy, and this is also something which the central government is wearied of.

In any case, unlike the Western tradition that the very basis of a democratic system is not to trust the government, in Chinese politics, trust and honour is of the utmost importance. This is why the Legislative Council cannot be allowed to condemn the National Peoples' Congress, even in a non-binding motion debate. I can well understand the stand and arguments on both sides, and can only say we have to respect such difference and be courteous to each other.

Such tolerance and courtesy is severely lacking among our democrats. Only with tolerance and courtesy can the "two systems" live together harmoniously in the future without the unnecessary bickering that we have been suffering since last year.

So on the part of the central government, it has to be tolerant as well. Don't take what the politicians say during the election madness, but urge the SAR government to be more vigilant in maintaining a level playing field and make sure nobody cheats. It should just carry on with the role as a loving parent to win the hearts and minds of the citizenry at large. As long as children feel love, they will not go astray.

I can sense this is exactly the attitude the central government takes. That explains why it sent the holy finger-bone relic of the Buddha here together with the graceful chief of the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China, Liu Yandong, to give us a pep talk.

The kind attitude is a fresh approach, and if we react well to this, hopefully tensions will gradually ease and more democratic politicians, starting with the less radical ones, will be engaged in more sensible dialogue.

(HK Edition 06/07/2004 page10)