HK Observer | China needs to woo youth

Robert Carroll

Alienated people can become reckless, but addressing their grievances may win them over. Cue pro-Hong Kong localists and their results in the recent LegCo bi-election and student union elections: They will surely form a third force in LegCo general elections, both this year and for years to come. Whether this will play into the establishment’s hands by significantly weakening the traditional pro-democracy camp remains to be seen. However, with interest in localist groups spreading across campuses and prevalent in the public housing estates during the bi-election, it looks as though a third block, in addition to the pro-establishment and pro-democracy sides, has arrived.
It’s encouraging to see the chairman of the National People’s Congress, Zhang Dejiang, downplaying serious unrest – involving localist groups – as a feature of the economic downturn elsewhere too, and describing it as street violence instead of rioting. That at least was what he told Hong Kong delegates at this year’s ongoing NPC assembly. The Chinese authorities have been carrying out their own investigation into the riot and it seems, if Zhang’s words are to be taken as findings of the enquiry, that a more realistic assessment than prior comments – that they were the work of separatists – has now come to the fore. This more muted response is welcome as it should not add fuel to the localists’ fire.
The government of Hong Kong, despite the urging of hundreds of academics, has refused to investigate the Mong Kok riot, which is the most violent street disturbance since the infamous Star Ferry riots of the 1960’s.
Given that localism emerged from the Occupy Central movement – a protest in response to the NPC’s strict ruling on political reform – core issues such as widespread anxiety about growing mainland control, frustration at poor employment and economic prospects and the lack of affordable housing must be addressed. We are not in a politically static situation (despite the seemingly insurmountable impasse and mistrust between the legislature and the executive), we are in state of flux as the ever-more politically astute and demanding youth search for a way beyond the traditional pro-democracy camp to air their grievances.
It is clear that there is a great deal of dynamism among the young to seek change, from both the rise of activism through the Scholarism and Occupy Movements, and now with localism; these murmurs are passing between students, young professionals and through grassroots organizations. At the Occupy protests all ages from teens to late thirties were well represented; a vital segment of society that must be appeased one way or the other or we will face repression and fear.
A conciliatory tone is needed to reach out to the young, not the big stick. They are the future of this city. They have genuine grievances; let them be heard. There should, in corridors of power in Beijing, sooner rather than later, be acceptance that localist support in the by-election and in recent University student elections shows the strength of the sentiment. Likewise, for Chinese officials to warn democrats that the electorate would punish them for their role in Occupy Central was plain wrong. On the contrary it was not taking on board local sentiment and the chorus of reasonable voices in the political reform process that sparked this radicalization. Moderate pan-democrats, including many academics and middle-of-the-road pro-establishment figures, had been flexible in their demands, only to have their voices ignored by the hawks in Beijing. A number of politicians in their midst are facing early retirement in the form of defeat by Occupy veterans and perhaps localists in this year’s LegCo election.
The gap between Beijing and many local young people may seem impossibly wide; nevertheless, we should take heart from successful resolutions between the most intractable of enemies. Look at The IRA and Britain, the ANC and the Apartheid government in South Africa and the East Timorese ex-resistance figures with Indonesia. All is not yet lost, but it will take a lot of good will on both sides and much bargaining. However, deals must be sought: the alternative, reaching the expiration of ‘one country two systems’ in 2047 with no agreement, is unthinkable.