Pro-democracy camp
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Pro-democracy camp (Chinese: 香港民主派) is a term frequently used by Chinese state-run media and pro-establishment academics to refer to the politicians and social activists in the City of Hong Kong. Democratic activists are usually critical of the post-1997 Hong Kong Special Administration Region government and the People's Republic of China's authoritarian government, which they say does not properly represent the will of the people.[1] People who vote for pro-democracy candidates are generally hoping to achieve some implementation of checks and balances in government, since the Hong Kong community treats democracy as an important means to guarantee freedom, their lifestyle and their living standard.[1] Its supportors also advocate a faster pace of democratisation and implementation of universal and equal suffrage. It is never referred to as the "Pro-Democracy Camp" from within its ranks, as this term is frequently used pejoratively by detractors of the movement. The Pro-Democracy camp is aligned with and similar to, but distinct from, the Chinese democracy movement.
Members of the camp represent a very broad social and political demographic, from the working class to the middle class and professionals. Opposite to the pro-democracy camp is the pro-Beijing camp, whose members are frequently supportive of the authoritarian rule exercised throughout much of China's mainland. Those with high positions in the Communist Party are less likely to support democratic reform, as they have the most to lose if the general public is allowed to speak and be heard. Those who have been appointed to their positions would obviously be against the idea of a fair democratic process, as they would lose their jobs to someone who is less corrupt or well-liked by the general public.
Due to its democracy mission in the political scene, the camp is largely supported by Hong Kong citizens, which can be reflected in Hong Kong Legislative Council and District Council elections. However, they cannot monopolize the two councils due to electoral regulations. According to China's constitution[2], only the Communist Party may unilaterally dominate an elected body in China.
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[edit] History
Members of the camp include social workers and social activists who took part in Hong Kong's district board, Urban Council and Regional Council elections in the early 1980s, as well as professionals, mainly lawyers, who entered the Legislative Council when functional constituencies were introduced in the mid-1980s. Several political groups existed during the era. The foundation of its public support has its roots in opposition to the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre which aroused widespread horror, symphathy and support of the protestors by Hong Kong citizens.[3] The crackdown on Chinese media and subsequent suppression of student dissent was a mobilizing factor; and the first direct election to the Legislative Council in 1991 brought the amalgamation of some of these groups into the United Democrats of Hong Kong.
The "Pro-Democracy Camp" term has been in common use since the 1995 election of the Legislative Council, when the Democratic Party, newly merged from the United Democrats of Hong Kong and Meeting Point, together with other smaller political parties, groups and independents, controlled nearly half of the seat of the council and was the largest force. Some of the members of the camp, especially the Democratic Party, were often considered strategic allies of the government of Chris Patten, then governor.
All of its members, except the Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood, declined to join the extralegal Provisional Legislative Council installed by the government of the People's Republic of China, and were ousted from the territory's legislature for a year until the 1998 election. Starting from the 1998 election, since the plurality electoral system was changed to proportional representation, compounded with the restoration of corporate votes in the functional constituencies, and replacement of broad-based functional constituencies with traditional ones, the number of seats of the camp dipped, albeit having similar share of vote. Within the camp, share of smaller parties and independents increased relatively, with the share of the Democratic Party falling from around two-thirds in 1995 to less than a half by 2004.
In recent years, use of "pan-democrat" (泛民主派) is gaining in popularity, as it is typically meant to be non-denominational and all-inclusive. In addition, to some people, it is less likely than 民主派 to cause confusion with the Democratic Party (民主黨).
Members of the camp tend to use the latter term to identify themselves, due to overuse of the "Pro-Democracy Camp" term in negative tones by its detractors. "Pan-Democrat" as a title has grown in usage especially during the passage of the national security and anti-subversion legislation, the subsequent 2003 district council and 2004 LegCo elections, and the debate over electoral reforms for the 2007 Chief Executive and 2008 LegCo elections.
[edit] PRC Criticism
The movement is criticized in media controlled by the PRC central government authorities and post-1997 Hong Kong SAR puppet government as an "opposition camp" (反對派), since their desires for freedom of speech, freedom of press, and self-determination contradict with the politics of the PRC government (i.e. anti-communism 反共, anti-authoritarianism). Some members in the camp, especially Martin Lee 李柱銘, are also accused of sympathizing with or being agents of the United States and the United Kingdom against the communist government. In some cases, proponents of democratic reform have even been accused of high treason.(漢奸, literally "traitor to the Han Chinese, see hanjian).[4]
[edit] Members of the camp
Civil organisations, individual social activists, political parties, political groups and lawmakers who share a similar belief in democracy are all considered members of this camp.
The following entities are routinely referred to as members of the Pro-Democracy camp:
- Democratic Party
(9) - The Frontier (1)
- Civic Party
(6, members ran as independents in the 2004 election) - Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (1)
- Neighbourhood and Workers Service Centre (1)
- Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood (1)
- League of Social Democrats (2, Leung Kwok Hung ran in 2004 as under the April Fifth Action banner)
- Albert Cheng (joint ticket with Andrew To of The Frontier in 2004)
- Kwok Ka Ki
- Lau Chin Shek¹ (president of the HKCTU, ran as an independent in the 2004 election)
- Joseph Lee
The following political groups are represented in at least one of the district councils:
Notes:
1. Lau Chin Shek is not considered as a pro-democrat by some members of the camp such as Raymond Wong.
[edit] In the previous sessions of the LegCo
- 123 Democratic Alliance
- Citizens Party
- Meeting Point (one of the predecessors of the Democratic Party)
- United Democrats of Hong Kong (one of the predecessors of the Democratic Party)
[edit] See also
- Pro-Beijing camp
- The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China
- list of political parties and political groups in Hong Kong
- Civil Human Rights Front
[edit] References
- ^ a b Cohen, Warren I. Kirby, William. [1997] (1997). Hong Kong Under Chinese Rule: The Economic and Political Implications of Reversion. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521627613
- ^ Constitution of the People's Republic of China
- ^ Wing-kai Chiu, Stephen. Lui, Tai-Lok. The Dynamics of Social Movement in Hong Kong. [2000] (2000). Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 962209497X.
- ^ Jensen, Lionel M. Weston, Timothy B. [2006] (2006). China's Transformations: The Stories Beyond the Headlines. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 074253863X.
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