Sample Document

Sample Document for Search: Newswires

1997: A year of destiny dawns for Hong Kong
MARCUS ELIASON
Associated Press, December 31, 1996 , 13:27 EST

HONG KONG - Calling 1997 the new year is a gross understatement in Hong Kong. It's more like a new world.

In 181 days on July 1 a 156-year-old British colony steeped in Western culture will become part of Communist China in one of history's most remarkable political, cultural and economic mergers. As 1996 becomes 1997, the fireworks and street revelry take on added poignancy and excitement.

Once a distant cloud on Hong Kong's horizon, 1997 is now engraved in the public consciousness not to mention on vanity license plates, souvenir T-shirts, commemorative coins and desk diaries.

But even though Hong Kong has had 13 years to get ready since Britain and China agreed on the terms of the handover, critical questions remain unanswered questions that cannot really be answered until after July 1.

Can a free capitalist society survive under the Communist flag? Will China keep its promise to treat Hong Kong as a separate, self-governing entity? Will it keep its hands off Hong Kong's freedoms and resist meddling in its economy?

Optimists cite a metaphor: This city-state is a goose laying golden eggs, so why would China kill it?

They point to China's huge financial investment in Hong Kong, and the prestige it has staked on demonstrating that a Chinese Hong Kong can work just as well as a British one.

Pessimists say that China's authoritarian instincts will prevail that a Communist dictatorship bent on stifling all dissent at home will be unable to live with a free-thinking, questioning, argumentative society.

They point to China's moves to disband Hong Kong's elected legislature and roll back some of its civil liberties laws. They cite statements by Beijing officials that Hong Kong will have to start unlearning some of the freedoms it now takes for granted, such as the right to poke fun at Chinese leaders.

Emily Lau, a prominent pro-democracy campaigner, says the new year should be ''a time for people to decide whether they want to stand up for their rights.''

Will they? ''That's the $64,000 question,'' she said.

Much will rest on the beefy shoulders of Tung Chee-hwa, the affable shipping tycoon chosen to be Hong Kong's leader, or chief executive, when it becomes a self-governing region of China.

He will have to perform a balancing act, showing that he can stand up to Beijing in defending Hong Kong's interests, without losing the trust Beijing has placed in him.

He will have to gain the support of the angry, alienated Democratic Party and its large public following even under the scrutiny of a Chinese government that sees Democrats as China-haters.

In the three weeks since a China-organized committee chose him as Hong Kong's future leader, Tung has sought to press as many of the right buttons as possible.

He has signaled to Beijing that he will be firm with unruly demonstrators and promote respect for China. He preaches ''Chinese values,'' which he defines as hard work, humility and family, but which some critics see as code for Beijing-style autocracy.

Having lived in Britain and the United States, having served in the Hong Kong government, and having forged close ties to Beijing, he seems well-positioned to straddle the gap between the two worlds of 1997.

Over the weekend, he sent a strong signal of continuity by getting Anson Chan, the highest civil servant in Hong Kong, to join his government.

He also has promised to meet with the Democrats shortly something China has refused to do.

But it will be hard for him to win over a party that believes his selection by a committee of 400, instead of by popular vote, is undemocratic.

Top