The Asian Wall Street Journal: International Commentary: Rockets Red Glare

May 9, 2001

Sometimes you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone. This is a sentiment widely held in today's Hong Kong, where many feel the bullying ways of paternalistic Beijing are creeping steadily into the Special Administrative Region's government. This week's gathering of executives at the Fortune Global Forum is offering plenty of proof to back up fears of slackening freedom in Hong Kong.

Among the unfavorable signs has been the handling of demonstrators. As 700 global business leaders and Chinese President Jiang Zemin arrived at the Hong Kong Convention Center, every precaution had been taken to guarantee visitors would not see any hint of protest. More than 3,000 Hong Kong police were deployed to the area to snuff out any sparks of dissent about the pace of democratic reforms and the erosion of individual rights.

These concerns center on the issue of religious persecution. The main reason for the police-enforced comfort zone around the convention center was to shield Mr. Jiang from demonstrations by members of the Falun Gong objecting to their group's illegal status and persecution on the mainland. Tony Chen, a Hong Kong Falun Gong member, says he and others simply want to be able to stand up publicly for the right for Chinese to worship freely in China.

Under the "one-country, two-systems" framework created for Hong Kong's handover to the mainland in 1997, the freedom supposedly exists to air such grievances in the SAR. But recent events suggest otherwise. While Falun Gong members were allowed to demonstrate yesterday, they were kept far away from the convention site -- in Kowloon on the other side of the harbor and in another remote locale in Hong Kong. Leading up to the forum, Hong Kong police detained more than 100 Falun Gong members from the U.S., Australia and Taiwan at the airport. Most were put back on planes and sent home. Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa has parroted Beijing's line that Falun Gong is a [Chinese government's slanderous term omitted]. This is despite the fact that the group is still legal in the SAR.

These problems were glossed over in Mr. Jiang's speech yesterday to the forum of business leaders from around the world. He asserted that Hong Kong had never been freer and that this reflects the success of the "one country, two systems" arrangement. His optimism exposes the purpose of his appearance at the forum, which was to convince potential foreign investors that China is indeed still open for business. He spoke elliptically about the recent troubles in Sino-U.S. relations -- without actually mentioning the U.S. -- and about controversies over human rights. But he insisted that his government is committed to continuing down the road of economic reform.

That was probably intended to reassure his business audience, whose members may have developed some doubts about investing in China because of recent events. The eruption of religious persecution and the seizures of visiting scholars have raised doubts among Westerners about China's political and social progress. Even China's expected accession to the World Trade Organization this year does not guarantee liberalization; there remains a question about whether Chinese enterprises will be willing to live by the WTO rules. Mr. Jiang no doubt also realizes that he may need allies in the U.S. business community this summer if Congress decides to re-examine its grant of normal trade relations, which cleared the way for China's WTO membership, in response to pressures from human rights organizations.

The forum focuses on how best to promote further advances in the global economy and how to foster greater participation in international trade. The essentials to better corporate governance advocated by forum participants include more accountability and greater transparency. The Hong Kong venue shows that these virtues also are of particular importance in government.

Hong Kong hasn't lost any business because of its increasing acquiescence to Beijing's wishes. As Tung Chee Hwa noted in his introduction to Mr. Jiang's speech yesterday, foreign investment in Hong Kong amounted to $64 billion last year. The forum -- and Mr. Jiang's first trip to Hong Kong since 1998 -- were celebrated last night with a spectacular fireworks display. But fireworks can't obscure the doubts that have been raised recently about the future course of China and the SAR.