[Opinion] A Suggestion towards Resolving the Current Hong Kong Political Crisis

1. I do not have a solution to the current political crisis in Hong Kong but I do have a suggestion that may help towards finding a solution: The Communist Government in Beijing should appoint a special envoy to talk with the people of Hong Kong.

And there is a candidate that should be acceptable to all sides: Henry Tang, who was a candidate in the 2012 Hong Kong Chief Executive Election.


2. In western countries, a special envoy maybe consider an intermediary between two parties.

But given the political situation in China, a special envoy will not be an intermediary between two equal parties but more akin to an Imperial Envoy of Chinese history.

(When the need arises, an emperor in Chinese history often appoint an Imperial Envoy to represent him to go to local places to solve special problems.)

The special envoy will not be an intermediary between two equal parties but represent the central government to the local people.

The special envoy is representing the central government in listening to the local people and solve problems for them.

In this case, the problem is finding a solution to the Chief Executive Election of 2017 that is acceptable to both the central government in Beijing and the local people of Hong Kong.


3. From the face saving perspective of the central government:

The appointment of a special envoy means the failure of local officials to solve the problem.

In this case, the administration of Chief Executive C.Y. Leung is manifestly unable to come up with a solution to the current political crisis.

The current political crisis is in many ways provoked by C.Y. Leung's intransigence during the consultative process for the Chief Executive Election of 2017.

The central government in Beijing need not openly rebuke C.Y. Leung.

What the central government can do is to reaffirm their faith in C.Y. Leung despite his mistakes on the one hand and simultaneously appoint a special envoy to Hong Kong on the other.

Given the precedents of appointing Imperial Envoys in Chinese history, there is nothing improper for the Beijing Government in appointing a special envoy for the current Hong Kong political crisis.

The central government in Beijing is not losing any face by appointing a special envoy.

The blame, if any, lies with the failures of the local Hong Kong administration resulting in the need for the central government to appoint a special envoy.


4. Henry Tang was a candidate for the 2012 Chief Election of Hong Kong and so has already been vetted by Beijing and was acceptable to them.

("Henry Tang", Wikipedia):

"Henry Tang Ying-yen GBM GBS JP (born 6 September 1952, Hong Kong) is a Hong Kong politician who served as the Chief Secretary of Hong Kong between 2007 and 2011. He held the position of Financial Secretary from 2003 to 2007. He lost the 2012 Hong Kong Chief Executive Election to CY Leung."

Henry Tang was not a career civil service bureaucrat but was a business man from a prominent family recruited into government in 2002 and became the Financial Secretary of Hong Kong in 2003.

Although he was involved in some scandals, Henry Tang still commands sufficient respect in Hong Kong that people will talk with him.

I hope the central government will appoint a special envoy for Hong Kong or otherwise come up with a peaceful solution to the current political crisis.

I do not wish to see the current political crisis in Hong Kong to end in violence.


5. Names, Words and Phrases:

C.Y. Leung (Traditional Chinese: 梁振英; Simplified: 梁振英).

Henry Tang (Traditional: 唐英年; Simplified: 唐英年).

Imperial Envoy (Traditional: 欽差大臣; Simplified:钦差大臣).


References:

"CY Leung", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leung_Chun-ying
(accessed 2014-10-02).

"Henry Tang", Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Tang
(accessed 2014-10-02).

End.