Could a democracy like the US have crafted the ‘one country, two systems’ policy? Unlikely

Managing the reintegration of Hong Kong with the motherland requires leadership of the highest order and a culturally advanced society

The short-term cycle of elected governments in a democracy makes it virtually impossible for a policy like one country, two systems to gain traction

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Henry Litton

Henry Litton is a retired Court of Final Appeal judge and author of "Is the Hong Kong Judiciary Sleepwalking to 2047?".

Published: 6:45am, 11 Nov 2021

Britain and China began negotiations over the future of Hong Kong in 1982. This was a “democracy” speaking to an “autocracy”, seeking to reach the near-impossibility of a consensus. In the Western world view, there could only be confrontation and contest to see who would ultimately come out on top.

Assume that, at the time, China had a different governing system – a democracy akin to the US model. Could the Joint Declaration, signed in 1984 as the product of those negotiations, have come about? It seems most unlikely.

Consider what was at stake. As the preamble to the Basic Law says: “Hong Kong has been part of the territory of China since ancient times; it was occupied by Britain after the Opium War of 1840.” The recovery of Hong Kong fulfilled “the long-cherished common aspiration of the Chinese people”.

China’s humiliation since the first Opium War has sunk deep into the Chinese consciousness. That war and its outcome led to the carving up of China. After Britain, other nations came along and each took a slice of the motherland.