Comparing the Hong Kong case to Taiwan’s situation is a bit of a stretch—some might even call it nonsense.
The National Interest
Date: July 17, 2019
By: Dennis V. Hickey
In recent weeks, hundreds of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China, to protest against a controversial extradition bill cobbled together by Hong Kong authorities with the support of Beijing. Much ink has been spilled trying to explain the significance of the demonstrations. Some analyses are solid efforts that contribute to the conversation. Others are not—particularly those that somehow try to link the Hong Kong experience to Taiwan. Taiwan is not Hong Kong.
Hong Kong was a British colony for over a century—it consisted of territories stolen from imperial China at different times during the nineteenth century (Hong Kong Island, Kowloon Peninsula and the New Territories). It was never a sovereign, independent state. The colony’s governor was selected by London—he was never elected by the people and Hong Kong was never a democracy. Moreover, the Hong Kong people had little or no say in determining the terms of the “handover” to mainland China in 1997. Since 1997, this SAR has been intended to serve as a show piece for Beijing’s “one country, two systems” reunification formula. The scheme was also applied in Macau, a former Portuguese colony. It has received mixed reviews in both SARS.
The Republic of China (Taiwan’s official moniker) was formally established on January 1, 1912. Since that time, its territory and political system has changed dramatically. For example, during World War II, the central government moved from Nanjing to Chongqing. During the Chinese Civil War, the government was compelled to move several times before finally landing in Taipei in 1949. For seventy years, the government in Taipei has controlled Taiwan, a handful of small islands such as Kinmen and Matsu (widely acknowledged as part of Fujian province) and the best piece of real estate in the South China Sea (Taiping Island). For almost a quarter of a century, Taipei occupied the Chinese seat in the UN’s Security Council and was recognized by most governments as the legitimate government of all China. And like the United States and many other countries, the governmental system has changed dramatically in recent decades. Taiwan has transformed itself from a staid, authoritarian dictatorship into a boisterous, multi-party democracy. Despite numerous challenges and triumphs, the Republic of China on Taiwan remains a sovereign and independent state. Hence, the differences with Hong Kong are enormous and striking—a fact which led Ma Ying-jeou, then Taiwan’s president, to declare in 2014 that Hong Kong’s experience with the “one country, two systems” model is “completely irrelevant” to Taiwan. [FULL STORY]
