Hong Kong 15th anniversary handover

Jeff Lim's comments: Today marks the 15th anniversary handover of Hong Kong from Britain to China.  Having spent 4 years studying in Hong Kong from 1995 to 1999, I regarded Hong Kong as my 2nd home. Sadly, the 1 country 2 systems as promised had faded.  Why?

Read the following articles to find out...

Article 1:

100,000 march in Hong Kong on 15th anniversary of handover

One hundred thousand protesters marched in Hong Kong on Sunday, voicing their anger at Hu Jintao, the Chinese president, on the 15th anniversary of the island's handover back to China.

The protest in Hong Kong on the 15th anniversary of the handover from Britain to China Photo: EPA

By Malcolm Moore, Beijing 4:25PM BST 01 Jul 2012

Mr Hu was heckled twice in two days during his carefully chaperoned visit. On Sunday, a protester in the audience loudly shouted: "End one-party rule!" as he gave an inauguration address for Leung Chun-ying, the island's new leader.

On Saturday, police had to use pepper spray to fight back protesters trying to present Mr Hu with a 100,000-name petition calling for an investigation into the suspicious death of a Tiananmen Square dissident.

One journalist was earlier dragged away for shouting a question about the Tiananmen Square protests.

For his part, Mr Leung instantly upset proud locals by giving his speech entirely in Mandarin. He did not utter a single word of Cantonese, the dialect spoken by 89 per cent of Hong Kong's population. "Mr Leung might as well have knelt in front of Mr Hu in a full kowtow," remarked one commentator.

The marchers gathered at Victoria Park before peacefully moving through the city. One protester, 37-year-old Jacky Lim, carried Hong Kong's former flag, with a Union flag in its corner.

"There is nothing worth celebrating today," he said. "Hong Kong is being gradually destroyed by the Communist party."

Attempts by mainland Chinese to travel to Hong Kong for the protests were thwarted by the authorities, who have reportedly stopped issuing travel permits until July 5.

Meanwhile a parody of Hong Kong's saccharine handover anniversary anthem has become a hit on the internet. Fewer than 5,000 people have watched the official music video of the sentimental and patriotic Believe in our Dream, but ten times as many have clicked on Who's stolen our Dreams?, which rails at Chinese rule and says the Communist party is "brainwashing" Hong Kong.

Public anger at Chinese rule in Hong Kong has never been higher. A poll of nearly 900 long-term residents in the South China Morning Post showed that almost two-thirds believe life has got worse since the handover.

Only 16.8 per cent believed that Chinese rule had improved Hong Kong, down from nearly 40 per cent at the time of Mr Hu's last visit in 2007. A separate poll by the University of Hong Kong found that 37 per cent of residents do not trust Beijing, the highest proportion since 1997.

There is mounting frustration at the wealth gap on the island, which is now at its highest level since 1971 and wider than in Britain or the United States.

Property prices, meanwhile, already some 40 per cent higher on average than in London, have now reached an all-time record, surprising their previous high in 1997.

"Hong Kong has changed a lot in the past six months," said Wen Yunchao, a mainland Chinese activist now living in Hong Kong. "The so-called One Country, Two Systems does not really exist any more and Hong Kongers are worried, after the election of the new chief executive that Beijing is going to fully control Hong Kong."

However, Alicia Lui, a 33-year-old from Hong Kong who now works in Beijing said the island continues to influence life on the mainland.

"I think China is trying to copy Hong Kong and is catching up. In some cities, like Shanghai, life is already close to Hong Kong."

She noted that since most Hong Kong residents were descendants of mainland immigrants, the idea that people from Hong Konger dislike mainland Chinese was an exaggeration. "If you asked me where I am from, I would say Hong Kong, but if you questioned me further, I would say I was Chinese," she said.

Additional reporting by Valentina Luo.

END...

ARTICLE 2:

Hong Kong’s 15th handover anniversary a reason for celebration?

By Elmer W. Cagape Jul 02, 2012 12:44PM UTC

Yesterday’s 15th anniversary of Hong Kong’s handover from Britain to China was highlighted with an elaborate fireworks display that dazzled spectators for 23 minutes. But one question that comes to mind is whether this occasion deserves to be called a celebration.

Fireworks are normally showcased to welcome the Chinese New Year but last night’s display was also part of a tradition that commemorates a transition from one era to another. But at a value of 8 million Hong Kong dollars (US$1.03m) it is an expensive element of celebration, a label many people who joined in rallies in sweltering conditions would likely disagree. A mammoth crowd, whose headcount varies depending on who you ask, is composed of people from various walks of life and who may have different reasons of joining the march.

Chinese President Hu Jintao, right, shakes hands with Hong Kong's new Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying after Leung was sworn in, at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center in Hong Kong Sunday, July 1, 2012. Hong Kong's new Beijing-backed leader was sworn in on Sunday amid a rising tide of public discontent over widening inequality and lack of full democracy in the semiautonomous southern Chinese financial center. Pic: AP

Celebration may not be that list. For many locals, the suspicious death of dissident and labor rights activist Li Wangyang prompted them to take to the streets and call for full investigation into his death. Li was a veteran of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and spent 21 years in prison. On June 6th, Li, who was blind and deaf, was found hanged from a Hunan hospital window. Authorities ruled his death as suicide, even though there are suspicions he didn’t take his own life. Participants in the rally interviewed by the South China Morning Post believed the rally “could make a difference” to how authorities handle Li’s death.

For others it’s a show of disappointment over the city’s new leader, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, who was also sworn in yesterday. Leung, a millionaire property consultant, along with his appointed officials, took oath in front of China’s President Hu Jintao. And to some extent, maybe it’s a show of force against mainlanders who are accused of various things, from pushing property prices to stratospheric levels to taking away maternity slots.

The President’s visit and Chief Executive’s oath of office were the focal points of discontent towards Beijing, accused of meddling Hong Kong’s affairs. For instance, some Hong Kong lawmakers proposed a draft outlining the city’s path to universal suffrage. But so far, the mainland offered consistent rejection of such proposals. It’s therefore not a surprise to notice people don’t trust Mr Leung that much, since he was elected in March not by majority of local people, but by a special committee with close attachment to Beijing. And it is evident through surveys.

A result of a poll released by the University of Hong Kong indicating mistrust towards Beijing at 37%, the highest since the handover. Another survey showed Hongkongers who identify themselves as citizens of China fell to a 13-year low.

Other events held in the day were artistic performances, carnivals and parachute jumping performance, which is fit for certain festivities such as independence day. But many Hong Kong people would beg to disagree.