Kenneth Pang, Hong Kong Commissioner to the United States, in a panel discussion yesterday afternoon expressed his belief that little will change when the British colony is transferred to Chinese rule.
The discussion, titled, "Hong Kong Returns to China, Implications for U.S. Policy and U.S. Business," also featured David Ping-Chung Chang, president of David Chang and Associates, a consulting firm specializing in Pacific Rim trade.
Approximately 150 people, mostly students from the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration, attended the event in Cook Auditorium.
The discussion centered around the impending July 1 takeover of Hong Kong by the Chinese government after 99 years as a British colony.
The Chinese government is proposing to run Hong Kong under a "one country, two systems" form of government, according to Pang. The question is whether or not this system can succeed, he said.
Pang, the top-ranking Hong Kong diplomat to the U.S., was upbeat on the prospect of Hong Kong remaining the free-wheeling capitalist haven it is today.
In an interview with The Dartmouth, Pang said there would be little change with the takeover.
"The short answer is business as usual," said Pang. "Apart from national defense and foreign relations, Hong Kong will run Hong Kong autonomously."
Students hoping to work in Hong Kong would not have any problems with the new system, Pang told The Dartmouth.
"The Chinese leadership and the Hong Kong People are well aware of how important it is to keep Hong Kong an attractive place," Pang said in his speech.
Pang said, "The foreigner will find a friendly business environment in which he is treated as an equal." He added, however, that it may take time to build up contacts.
Pang emphasized the tremendous economic progress Hong Kong has made from low-technology manufacturing to knowledge-based industry. He pointed out that Hong Kong will account for 20 percent of China's Gross Domestic Product.
Chang, however, expressed concerns that with a transfer to Chinese rule would come a "downward revision of Hong Kong's civil rights."
He read from a Hong Kong newspaper quoting a Chinese official who said, "spontaneous demonstrations will require approval of the department of public safety."
Chang described the essential problem with the takeover by quoting a Chinese phrase. "A couple in bed together, but each dreaming different dreams," Chang said.
There has been concern both in Hong Kong and abroad, that the Chinese government will disregard basic freedoms and institutions in Hong Kong.
Last Saturday, the Beijing-appointed Preparatory Committee, formed to oversee the transition, repealed 25 Hong Kong laws guaranteeing civil liberties. These laws included the Bill of Rights.
"We feel they are totally unjustified," Pang said of the Preparatory Committee. "People in Hong Kong are concerned about their freedoms. They will stand up to the changes and their voices will be heard."
Beijing, however, has recently made moves which decrease representation of Hong Kong citizens in the territorial government. The freely elected Hong Kong Legislature was recently disbanded and replaced by a Beijing-backed Provisional Legislature. The British government does not recognize the Provisional Legislature, according to Pang.
Pang told The Dartmouth that the current disagreements were arguments over the details of provisions in the Chinese-British treaty controlling the takeover of Hong Kong.
The Provisional Legislature is merely a temporary body, and hopefully procedures for a new election could be worked out within the next year, Pang said.
The fate of the Legislature will be a key indicator of how well the transition is progressing, according to Pang.
Chang compared the upcoming takeover of Hong Kong to the Communist takeover of Shanghai in 1949. Shanghai quickly became an economic disaster, as its financiers and industrialists fled to Hong Kong, Chang said.
He intimated that the Beijing government was possibly seeking to reverse the process and make Shanghai a center of Asian commerce at the expense of Hong Kong.
Pang dismissed the possibility of Chinese problems with corruption affecting Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong Independent Commission on Corruption has helped give Hong Kong a reputation as one of the least corrupt cities in the world and would continue its work in this direction, he said.
However, Chang said corruption is already rising in Hong Kong. He said that recently the son of a senior Chinese Communist Party official made $400 million overnight on a "sweetheart" stock deal involving Cathay Pacific, a Hong Kong-based company.
Yesterday's panel discussion was sponsored by the Center for Asia and the Emerging Economies at the Tuck School.
