[One sign came on Friday as tens of thousands marched in stifling midsummer heat in the most politically charged protests here since 2003 and 2004, when hundreds of thousands rallied against government security proposals that eventually were scrapped.]
By Kevin Drew
 |
| Student dancers perform a carnival in Hong Kong, south China, July 1, 2011. A grand carnival is held in Hongkong to celebrate the 14th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). Photographer: Xinhua /Huang Xiaoyong |
One sign came on Friday as tens of thousands marched in stifling midsummer heat in the most politically charged protests here since 2003 and 2004, when hundreds of thousands rallied against government security proposals that eventually were scrapped.
The police gave a preliminary estimate of 51,000 who left Victoria Park and marched to the government headquarters. But organizers said the final number of people protesting was 218,000, due, they said, to people who joined the march in progress.
The march fell on the 14th anniversary of this former British colony’s return to Chinese rule and the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party. The July 1 holiday is an annual occasion for political demonstrations, and for the first time organizers used it to call for the resignation of Hong Kong ’s chief executive, Donald Tsang.
“Some young people can’t afford to buy a house or a flat and they don’t have a place to live. So it means they can’t get married. And public housing isn’t sufficient,” said Helen Yip, a clerk in her 40s who joined the march with three friends.
“The policy of the government is affected by the central government,” she said, referring to the government in Beijing
This semiautonomous city enjoys many civil liberties unavailable on the Chinese mainland, such as the right to stage public protests. But residents cannot vote directly for their chief executive or for many legislative seats.
The demonstrations Friday followed polls that showed record levels of dissatisfaction with local government. Surveys released Thursday by the nonprofit Hong Kong Transition Project and earlier in June by the Public Opinion Program showed the government attracting the highest negative ratings since Mr. Tsang took office in 2005.
Both surveys listed economic issues, including soaring housing prices, inflation and the wealth gap, as fundamental reasons for public discontent.
“Most people are very angry at this government,” said Michael DeGolyer, director of the Hong Kong Transition Project. “They basically feel the government here is not doing its job.”
“July 1 has always been an indicator at how angry the public is with the government,” said Sin Chung-kai, vice chairman of the Democratic Party, one of the protest organizers. “This year we’ve seen real anger voiced at different issues,” including, he said, “the economy and property tycoons.”
The protests are a growing trend across the region. Asia is now home to more millionaires in U.S. dollar terms than Europe and trails only North America , according to the World Wealth Report released in June by Merrill Lynch. But rapid economic growth has exacerbated inequality and could fuel social unrest, say regional financial experts. In May, the Asian Development Bank listed income disparity as one of the five “mega risks” to the region’s long-term growth.
The Hong Kong real estate market has had one of the world’s steepest ascents in the past two years because the city strictly pegs its currency to the dollar in a way that effectively requires it to keep the same interest rates as in the United States United States
“The talk about direct elections seems to go on forever, and the government’s policies are really biased for big companies, to the few rich,” said T. Kan, a Hong Kong resident who did not want to provide his full name. “It’s just a few people running Hong Kong . If you go to shopping centers, it’s just a few companies. Small entrepreneurs are being pushed out.”
In a statement released Friday night, the government said Mr. Tsang would respond to growing public concern over soaring property prices. “The government attaches great importance to public views and will continue to listen in a humble manner to better address the needs of the people,” the statement said.
In Hong Kong , young adults and the elderly are the fastest growing segments among the low income and poor, said Mariana Chan, of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service, a government advisory agency. A record 1.26 million people in this territory of 7 million now live in poverty, Ms. Chan said.
But even greater dissatisfaction with leaders is being registered by the educated middle class, who increasingly are shut out of a property market that has seen prices soar above the then-record levels of 1997, on the eve of the Asian financial crisis. The U.S.-based firm Demographia reported this year that Hong Kong ’s home prices were the least affordable in the world. “As education goes up, support for the government goes down,” Mr. DeGolyer said.
In an interview, Matthew Cheung, the Hong Kong secretary for labor and welfare, said the lower government figure was determined by factoring in the benefits of subsidized education, health care, housing and other safety-net measures.
“That is why there is no starvation in Hong Kong ,” he said. “We can provide people with suitable shelter.”
Economists and officials point to special challenges here: The government allows up to 150 mainland Chinese with family connections in Hong Kong to enter each day on “one-way permits.” Many of these migrants lack the skills appropriate to a knowledge-based economy and contribute to the rich-poor divide, Mr. Cheung said. “The challenge we face is retraining them,” he said.
“That’s where the problem with income disparity lies.”
Social observers also point to Hong Kong ’s aging population and the rising number of elderly people living apart from their families, a trend government officials cite to explain the higher number of older people in poverty.
Alan Leong, leader of the Civic Party, a political party pressing for democratic reforms, argued that political reform is necessary to fix the economy.
“Hong Kong is not a democracy,” said Mr. Leong. “So the government can only justify its existence if it can solve a problem like the rich-poor gap. If you do not have political legitimacy and at the same time you cannot address pressing social problems, than why do you stay in Government House?” he asked. “In a democracy at least we can try out what we think are solutions.”
Mr. Cheung, the labor and welfare secretary, said the government already devoted more than 57 percent of its annual budget to education, social welfare programs, health care and public housing. He pointed to Hong Kong ’s first minimum wage law, which took effect this year, and a transportation subsidy for lower-income people that will be introduced later as steps the government has taken to address poverty.
“We are acutely aware of the pressure points of where we should do a lot more,” he said. “We are moving away from a laissez-faire economy way of thinking, but in the process we don’t give away Hong Kong ’s free enterprise economy.”
But many social scientists say Hong Kong has never been a truly free market, but rather an economy of close alliances between local government and a wealthy few who dominate real estate development and other industries.
“Every time you talk about economic issues such as property, it’s highly politicized,” because of government involvement, Mr. DeGolyer said. “So when people voice protest over the wealth gap in Hong Kong , they are not necessarily voicing opposition to people being wealthy. What they mean is that the wealthy have power, and are tied to the government.”
“There is real anger with the government, a deep feeling that the government is in collusion with property developers and tycoons,” said Ken Borthwick, a Hong Kong architect who participated in the demonstrations Friday.“If you look at Hong Kong , you’ve got a tiny number of tycoons and a small number of very privileged people,” he said. “The middle class thinks it stinks, and I don’t think the government has much compassion for the people on the streets.”
Keith Bradsher and Alice Woodhouse contributed reporting.
