Ability to Provide Local Self-Government of Hong Kong - Article Example

The paper "One Country - Two Political Systems: Hong Kong's Ability to Provide Local Self-Government or Launch Reforms under Chinese Administrative System" is a wonderful example of a political article. Throughout the content, the article discusses the reality of the ‘one country, two systems’ approach to Hong Kong's situation under Chinese its. In particular, it accentuates the importance of Hong Kong’s example, because it shows the very ability of the central authority to provide local self-government for regions or launch certain reforms under the Chinese administrative system.

For this aim, Pepper discusses the situation with delegate selection in Hong Kong. In this context, he noticed the way this procedure changed in detail in Special Administrative District but remained the same as the whole. For example, the elections in 1997 had both similarities and differences to mainland practice under the 1995 Electoral Law. By being alike in an inability to vote “against” the candidate, it had a first-past-the-post approach, secret ballot system, and other modifications. (p. 323).

In addition, the practice of these elections was more complex because of pressure from China on who exactly should take part in the case of Hong Kong. In this context, the author questions the role of the Electoral Conference, since its “conference members were drawn from ‘old’ patriotic core and its ‘new’ pro-China periphery” (p. 331). With the all-inclusive influence of this institution on Hong Kong’s political future, the political struggle between new pro-democratic and pro-Chinese parties was not equal by default.

Finally, the analysis of delegates’ activity on their position revealed close ties between Hong Kong’s NPC delegates and its Legislative Council complicates the distinction between the two systems (p. 337). Due to this, the practice of ‘one country, two systems’ design in terms of functions is doubtful, as local delegates have close ties to central authorities. Resulting from these processes, Pepper concludes his article by stating, “Two systems becoming one” (p. 341) through bridging administrative mechanisms.

Among the most interesting parts of this article, the discussion of the activity of the most influential politicians in the Hong Kong government is the most interesting one. In detail, Pepper picks four candidates in the 1997 elections. With the help of these examples, he illustrates his main idea of controversy and lack of confidence in the sustainability of Hong Kong's special status. This idea is interesting because in this section author changes his argumentation from a general overview to concrete cases.

Among them, the personality of Liang Enzhu is the most influential one, since this man was a number one candidate regardless of the method of elections. In my opinion, he revealed the easiness of mocker ‘two systems’ design. In particular, he wanted to “be wearing two hats,” meaning ambitions to be both “center’s representative in Hong Kong and the latter’s representative at the center” (p. 327). In this context, the very personality of Liang Enzhu illustratively shows that electoral rules in Hong Kong make it hard to maintain a ‘one country, two systems approach.

In general, his behavior and the result of the election make it evident that the Chinese central government has left enough space for maneuvering, which discredits the practical functioning of Hong Kong's autonomy significantly. Among the questions for future research, the article does not discuss the role of ordinary Hong Kong people in the political process. In general, Pepper only slightly touches on the dilemma of the popularity of pro-Chinese activists in Hong Kong autonomy. On the contrary, the article mostly evaluates certain practical contradictions of ‘one country, two systems as an administrative dilemma.

Thus, it does not reflect the contradiction of this ambiguous situation with the expectations of Hong Kong people. Although, the question of sympathy to the central government in terms of values and culture is not that important for the author. Nevertheless, while reading the article, the constant influence of China’s appreciation has no explanation. Moreover, the author concentrates on Hong Kong’s political system only in the administrative dimension and does not pay attention to the influence of Hong Kong’s public on the ideological views of local politicians.

In other words, further research should include analysis of the reaction from Hong Kong’s population on certain actions from their local pro-Chinese government.