1st NDI Survey Mission visits Hong Kong in March 1997 and Promise of Democratization Report 1

Survey Mission

The NDI sent their first survey mission to Hong Kong from 5 – 10 March 1997, prior to Hong Kong’s return to Chinese sovereignty in July 1997, to:

·         assess the political environment;

·         identify possibilities for NDI programming in the territory (Page 3).

The mission comprised:

·         Tom Andrews, former Member of the U.S. Congress and current National Program Director for Citizen Action;

·         Sue Wood, former head of New Zealand's National Party;

·         Eric Bjornlund, NDI Regional Director for Asia;

·         Sophie Richardson, NDI Program Officer.

During its mission, the team met with a broad range of political actors, including Legislative Council members, political party representatives, election officials and other senior government officials, representatives of domestic and international NGOs, members of the domestic and international media, academics and representatives of the U.S. government.

Promise of Democratization Report 1#

The findings of this mission were documented in:

·         The Promise of Democratization in Hong Kong. Survey Report. NDI Pre-election report. NDI Hong Kong Report #1. June 10, 1997¹

This report was prepared by:

·         Eric C. Bjornlund, NDI Senior Associate and Director of Asia Programs;

·         Sophie Richardson, NDI Program Officer;

·         Andrew Fuys, NDI Program Assistant. 

The report was intended to assess the current political and legal situation in Hong Kong in light of the imminent transfer of sovereignty. It addresses several of the most frequently discussed issues, especially those that have implications for potential NDI programs or, for that matter, for U.S. Policy toward Hong Kong (Page 3).

Promise of Democratization Report 1 Cover

Key findings of the mission

The key findings of this mission were:

Article 23

·         one major concern about working in Hong Kong is that Article 23 of the Basic Law prohibits Hong Kong political organizations from having "ties" with external political organizations (Page 11);

·         a representative of Human Rights Watch/Asia explained it would wait and see the legislation proposed to implement the dictates of Article 23 before making any public statement. HRW/Asia has, like the DP, registered as a corporation. The Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor, which is a grantee of the National Endowment for Democracy, felt that the Article's interpretation would require several court cases before the parameters become clear (Page 12);

Center for Subversives

·         one message was that Beijing wants to prevent Hong Kong becoming a "political city," one of subversive influences that could easily permeate the border with China (Page 12);

Measuring public confidence

·         political confidence is not usually measured by public opinion polls, but by the Hang Seng stock index (Page 13).

Outside interference

·         the NDI team came away with the impression that the Chinese government may be sensitive to outside opinion (Page 14)

Discussions on Article 23

The first survey team held extensive discussions and Article 23 came up in virtually all of the team's discussions. They could therefore be under no illusion as to its implications to the NDI’s future work in Hong Kong, as the following excerpts from the report show:

·         Article 23 also forbids Hong Kong residents from subverting the Chinese government. This provision was Beijing's response to the support, particularly financial support, that Hong Kong residents lent to participants in the 1989 Tiananmen protest movement.

In terms of the impact of Article 23 on relations between political organizations in Hong Kong and abroad:

·         Certain democrats thought that it was too early to tell how the provisions would be interpreted, but suggested it would be wise to strengthen Hong Kong's ties with the international academic community, which would presumably be less controversial.

·         Others suggested they could not even discuss the Article with the NDI delegation for fear of repercussions.

·         One LegCo member suggested it would bar any "affiliation" between Hong Kong groups and groups abroad; another argued it merely would ban foreign funding.

Societies Ordinance

Under proposed amendments to the Societies Ordinance, the following definitions were being considered:

·         A political organization is defined as any group that "directly participates in political activities relating to government institutions and comments on public affairs as their main objective."

·         An external group includes international organizations, foreign political parties and foreign governments or their instrumentalities. Groups from Taiwan are also considered external but those from mainland China are not.

·         "Ties" constitute "soliciting or accepting financial assistance, directly or indirectly," a society's management being "controlled, directed, dictated, influenced or participated" by external groups or "collaboration" to determine a society's policies.

Program Options for the NDI

From these discussions, the NDI distilled the following program ideas:

1. Monitoring the Development of an Election Framework.

NDI is now organizing an ongoing program to monitor the development of an election framework for the legislative council elections expected in the first half of 1998, including one or more pre-election missions in the second half of 1997 to assess whether the proposed election framework is consistent with international norms. NDI also expects to organize a seminar that would draw on experiences from other countries. Since the Basic Law provides for additional revisions of the election framework for future elections, this issue will continue to be important in the future. A program that monitors the development of an election framework will also help inform the strategy of pro-democracy activists with respect to election issues.

2. Working with Local Elected Officials.

Working with existing democratic political organizations, NDI could also convene one or more workshops with elected District Board representatives in an effort to improve their political organizations and organizing skills. Such programs could help local officials to better address the concerns of their constituencies and to more effectively monitor the impact of government policy on their constituents. As local elected officials and political organizations gain political sophistication and confidence, they become more effective at developing and articulating policies that empower the public and provide alternative, democratic centers of political power.

Screen shot of NDI Program Ideas

Reference

¹The promise of democratization in Hong Kong. Survey Report. NDI Pre-election report. NDI Hong Kong Report #1. June 10, 1997 Link to all Promise of Democratization Reports