The July 1 demonstration affirmed the people of Hong Kong’s commitment to democracy and the rule of law. It was an event in which people gathered to tell the world that Hong Kong’s way of life based on respect for democracy and an abhorrence of authoritarianism must continue. Hong Kong’s July 1 protest was a day in which people celebrated an aspiration: an aspiration to preserve liberty.
The roots of this aspiration lie in the people’s history of Hong Kong, which is so little spoken about. What is spoken about more often is the economic success of Hong Kong and its modernity. It is not surprising. Hong Kong is a small territory with tall buildings connected by an underground railway. It is a high-speed city. Technological sophistication is central to its metropolitan culture. Its finance and banking sectors are of high quality, as are its modern communication and transportation facilities.
However, there is a people’s history that has made the technological progress sustainable. Although Hong Kong was once known as one of the most corrupt cities in Asia, people were able to subdue corruption and bring the city under their control: an achievement that most countries would like to imitate. One of the benchmarks in measuring people’s progress is to look at whether they have been able to bring their law enforcement agencies, particularly the police, under the control of the rule of law. There are very few places in Asia in which this has been achieved. It was the people’s initiatives that created the political will to pressure those in power to create the Independent Commission against Corruption (ICAC), a body to check corruption that is located entirely outside the domain of the police. It is quite natural that people do not want to lose these achievements and return to naked forms of aggression by the police and other authorities.
Often political will is misunderstood as the will of the rulers. However, a closer study of events that have led to positive social developments shows that political will grows from below and wins support from people at the top. Hong Kong’s experience also demonstrates this phenomenon. The source of political wisdom is the free participation of the people. When people’s common sense has a greater say, rulers adopt saner policies and avoid disastrous ones.
Hong Kong’s young people are a different generation. They have had a sophisticated education and they have grown up in very different social circumstances from earlier generations. They may not even understand the anxieties of former generations and are not retarded by the unhappy experiences of the past. The aspiration for liberty is quite natural to them. For them the July demonstration will have had a futuristic perspective, a future where transparency and accountability will be more common, where freedom is respected and all forms of social control are subjected to democratic norms and standards.
The demonstrations in July against the Hong Kong government’s proposed Article 23 brought forth the inner mood of the Hong Kong people. The huge demonstration that surprised the world on July 1 and other protests manifested the inner aspirations of the people of Hong Kong for a better future in which they can participate to a greater extent in the public affairs of their society.
