Anson Chan rejects ‘one country, two systems’ appraisal from Washington’s man in Hong Kong

Former chief secretary urges Kurt Tong to give his government a ‘truly balanced assessment’ of city’s political situation

Reading Time:2 minutes

Anson Chan said the liaison office was interfering in day-to-day Hong Kong affairs, in breach of the Basic Law. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 9:08am, 14 Jun 2017Updated: 2:16pm, 14 Jun 2017

Hong Kong’s former No 2 official Anson Chan Fang On-sang has rejected the United States envoy’s claim that the city is working well under “one country, two systems”.

The outspoken pro-democracy figure, who is in regular contact with American officials and politicians, took issue with Kurt Tong, who in an interview with the Post earlier this month gave a positive appraisal of the city’s political condition.

“In the past few years I have seldom found myself dissenting with opinions expressed by members of the United States diplomatic corps in Hong Kong,” the former chief secretary wrote in a statement issued on Tuesday.

But she said she was “astonished” to read the US consul general’s remarks that the formula was “working well” and people should “build on its success, not question it”.

Kurt Tong said ‘one country, two systems’ was working well. Photo: Nora Tam

“I do not know exactly what benchmarks Mr Tong has used to reach this conclusion,” Chan said.

“The success of ‘one country, two systems’ cannot be measured on the basis of trade and economic factors alone. It must also encompass fulfilment of the aspirations of Hong Kong people for the preservation of the values and civil liberties the concept is supposed to guarantee.”