CCP out of the closet?

This HKFP article concludes with an interesting question: will, or when will, the Chinese Communist Party operate openly in Hong Kong?

The Hong Kong government virtually never mentions the phrase ‘Communist Party’. And the rising use of nationalistic symbolism in town (flag-raising, national anthem, national education, etc) looks deliberately secular – focusing on the state and omitting the CCP-church. We are a long way from having the CCP out itself on this side of the border.

The main demand for this radical step comes from local pro-Beijing quasi-politicians and apologists, typically under the DAB/FTU (CCP front) umbrellas. Despite help from Beijing’s local Liaison Office, rigged elections and shoe-shining media, they are tragically unhip and easy to mock. With the might of the CCP visible behind them, no bully would dare kick sand in their faces again. We would have to take them seriously.

However, it is hard to see the CCP operating openly in an even slightly pluralistic environment. It could not handle the humiliation of losing in a District Council election or otherwise competing as an equal with rival groups or ideologies. It would only materialize as a party people can join or vote for when all other opposition groupings are banned or reduced to Mainland-style ‘democratic’ stooges. The CCP cannot even tolerate losing a debate or being publicly criticized, so this scenario presumes a fully censored media and Internet as well. It is a Leninist organization: all it knows is control, and monopoly of power.

Keeping the CCP underground here should suit Beijing, anyway. Xi Jinping is sealing the Mainland off from evil foreign hostile ideas and forces, while projecting CCP influence overseas via United Front and other activities. Hong Kong is a unique environment, where Western influences are projected into a small and distinct part of the Motherland. The local population are still too brainwashed by colonial oppressors to accept Marxist and Maoist truth. And the city is a place where patriotic or co-opted Chinese businessmen are accepted and indeed prominent in international circles. The foreign businesses are eager for deals, and ripe for being suckered into ‘win-win cooperation’. It would be counter-productive to creep them out with hammer-and-sickle posters in the boardroom.

That assumes Beijing’s leadership is rational. A regime that (for example) holds Canadians hostage might be insecure and stupid enough to let the CCP blunder onto the local stage, like setting up campus branches or overtly guiding listed companies. It is almost tempting to hope that it does.

 

 

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8 Responses to CCP out of the closet?

  1. Stanley Lieber says:

    Hong Kong’s only value to the CCP is as an international financial centre and all that comes with it. Nothing else matters to them here. Nothing.

    Bringing the Party out of the closet would endanger that status. So the CCP will stay behind the curtain as long as the investment bankers still believe there’s a free flow of people, money and information, and they still think they can get a contract enforced in an impartial court of law here.

    Until the tipping point is reached, laissez les bon temps rouler.

    After that, all bets are off.

  2. Paul Lewis says:

    I’m thinking of starting up the Tsim Sha Tsui Communist Party.
    There are many different forms of communism.
    Ours would very loosely adhering to some of the concepts.
    The Chinese Communist Party does not hold a monopoly on the word, and we will have a disclaimer on our website saying we are not affiliated with them.
    So, I don’t see there being any problem.

  3. Casira says:

    Put yourself in their shoes, why would they stop moving forward on easy target snowflakes like Canada and HongKong when they have much tougher opponents on other fronts (Taiwan/US).

  4. “It is almost tempting to hope that it does.”

    I’m thrilled to watch dictator Xi and his cohort of clowns blunder their way! The disappearance of the high-profile Australian citizen Yang Hengjun is yet another temper tantrum thrown by Team Winnie the Pooh. Wonderful public relations! Curry Lamb can only dream of such acumen.

    Only a complete idiot will continue to hug pandas.

    Or a prostitute of course.

  5. Stephen says:

    It is almost tempting to hope that it does.

    Agreed because then when a Holden, Starry, Priscilla, Dr Quat et al run for “election” the penny may finally drop for the brainwashed electorate.

  6. Chris Maden says:

    @Stanley Lieber

    “as long as the investment bankers still believe there’s a free flow of people, money and information”

    They don’t for a minute (and I know quite a few). But they have foreign passports, and it’s not their own money.

  7. @Stephen – you forgot the quote marks around “Dr”.

  8. Stanley Lieber says:

    @Chris Maden

    I’m intrigued by your observation and am open to persuasion. In what ways do your investment banking friends feel the flow of information, people or money is restricted in HK?

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