Last Saturday, the Legislative Council (LegCo) finally approved the funding for the local section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link.

At the same time, protesters camping outside the LegCo building tried repeatedly to barge in. Such acts of violence and breaches of public order are being adopted by the opposition camp to create an anti-democracy and anti-intellectual trend.

This trend, if merged with the so-called "general resignation in five geographical constituencies", would become a force that could seriously undermine Hong Kong's democratic progress.

As a matter of fact, the vast majority of Hong Kong people support the building of the railway. Just a year ago, opposition to the project failed to attract widespread attention, but it has now become a common theme among anti-government forces.

Supporters of a major public issue usually do not express their views through radical means, while those who oppose to it do so. Tactics include interrupting meetings of the legislature, in order to draw media and public attention. The situation in Hong Kong is no exception.

The problem is, democracy and freedom are being abused here. Thanks to distortion and exaggeration by the opposition parties and media, the term "express rail" has become the synonym for "evil", while fighting against the express rail project is considered as upholding justice. That is ridiculous.

The young people who are against the infrastructure project have never explained why it represents injustice. They are reluctant to be guided by reason, to learn more about the railway itself or why Hong Kong needs it.

They should learn from the plight of Taiwan where social confrontations in the past two decades have resulted in the island's economy being marginalized and people's livelihoods degenerating.

Taiwan's society has been deeply divided over the construction of the island's fourth nuclear plant. The better part of the population wanted the plant because Taiwan lacks energy resources, while those who opposed it viewed the environment as their top priority. Neither party was willing to budge and no consensus could be forged as a result.

Taking advantage of this situation, politicians pressed for a referendum to help decide the issue.

Opponents of the nuclear plant made numerous "kow-tow" protests to create momentum for the movement against it.

In Hong Kong, opponents of the express rail have copied the Taiwan protesters. If "kow-tow" protests are still considered to be non-violent, storming the LegCo building is out-and-out violence.

Had protesters been able to break through the police defence lines and barge into the LegCo building last Saturday, what would have followed would most probably be the wrecking of the council chamber and physical assaults on lawmakers.

What actually happened was that a number of legislators and government officials were trapped inside the besieged building for hours. That reminded us of an incident the year before last, when a mob laid siege to the Grand Hotel, Taipei, where Chairman of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits Chen Yunlin was staying.

By manipulating public opinion, the opposition camp is attempting to link the anti-express rail movement to the general resignation of legislators expected to happen by the end of this month. The opposition wants people to think of the by-elections that will ensue as a "referendum" on political reform.

Hong Kong does not have the constitutional authority to hold referendums. The opposition camp threatens to lower the quality of Hong Kong's democracy to the level of Taiwan's. It is encouraging irrational and even violent language to dominate the political scene as well as media commentary, and to hamper the SAR's democratic advancement and economic transformation.

If such situations do materialize, Hong Kong society would not be in a position to deal with the grave consequences.

Hong Kong people must think carefully: are we willing to let the political environment of the city we live in "Taiwanize?"

The author is a commentator of the Phoenix Satellite TV

(HK Edition 01/19/2010 page1)