"Super paradox" or "Leninist integration" : the politics of legislating Article 23 of Hong Kong's Basic Law
Document Type
Journal article
Source Publication
Asian Perspective
Publication Date
6-1-2006
Volume
30
Issue
2
First Page
65
Last Page
95
Publisher
Lynne Rienner Publishers
Keywords
China, communist parties, human rights and democracy in East Asia
Abstract
Liao Zhengzhi, the late director of the Office of Hong Kong & Macau Affairs, once said that on the resumption of Hong Kong's sovereignty. Hong Kong needed only to change the flag & British governor. While the press was full of doomsday prophecies about Hong Kong's future, there was a camp of "super-paradox" theorists who genuinely believed that Hong Kong's status quo would not change after the handover. The authoritarian one party-dominated PRC, they asserted, could absorb a free-flowing Hong Kong without changing the nature of an open society. Contrary to doomsday prophets & "super-paradox" theorists, this article argues that while the doomsday prophecy was groundless, important institutional changes did take place even though they were barely noticed. It is argued, by using the example of the legislation of Article 23, that a gradual approach has been adopted by the Chinese Communist Party to change the fundamentals of Hong Kong's polity, a strategy that I call "Leninist integration."
Print ISSN
02589184
E-ISSN
22882871
Publisher Statement
Copyright © 2006 Lynne Rienner Publishers
Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.
Full-text Version
Publisher’s Version
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Wong, Y.-c. (2006). "Super paradox" or "Leninist integration": The politics of legislating Article 23 of Hong Kong's Basic Law. Asian Perspective, 30(2), 65-95.