Sonny Lo's new book provides a relatively optimistic view of democratic development in Hong Kong. Lo aims to achieve two objectives in the book. Firstly, he attempts to provide a brief account of the democratic development of Hong Kong since the handover in 1997. Secondly, he ambitiously argues that Hong Kong has achieved a unique form of “indigenous democracy” by protecting “civil liberties” and has obtained certain “degrees of checks and balances against the executive branch of government” (p. 1). The introductory chapter (“The uniqueness of Hong Kong democracy”) sets the tone for the whole book by explaining how Hong Kong can be argued as democratic. Lo revisits different democratization theories and defines democracy by combining the ideas of Charles Tilly and Guillermo O'Donnell. Under this framework, Lo argues that Hong Kong has achieved three out of four criteria in Tilly's definition, namely substantive, constitutional and process-oriented perspectives. Hong Kong only fails in procedural perspective; in other words, there is a lack of competitive election in choosing political leaders.
Lo also argues that Hong Kong is equipped with a well-developed “horizontal accountability” to provide checks-and-balances and “uphold the rule of law” (pp. 12–13), which are essential to new democracies, according to O'Donnell. Regrettably, the key term of the book “indigenous democracy” has not been defined comprehensively, as Lo suggests that “semi-democracy can also be seen as an indigenous democracy” (p. 13). Among relevant terminologies like competitive authoritarianism, semi-democracies, semi-authoritarianism and indigenous democracy, the choice of “indigenous democracy” should be justified and differentiated from other competing theories. Ultimately, the question of how ambiguous indigenous democracy is different from Western liberal democracy needs to be addressed.
The book is divided into five chapters. The first chapter summarizes the democratic development of Hong Kong by tracing the origin of its democratic development before 1997. Studying the White Paper issued by Beijing in detail (p. 50), Lo then identifies the changing role of the Chinese government before and after the handover, from an external factor to an “internal factor” that exerts “dialectical impacts” on Hong Kong politics (pp. 26–27). Chapter two and three illustrate the aforementioned horizontal accountability enjoyed by Hong Kong. Chapter two argues that both the rule of law and judicial independence are preserved under “one country, two systems.” The analysis of the Chief Justice's speeches at the Ceremonial Opening of the Legal Year is an innovative and worthwhile method to probe the judicial status of Hong Kong chronologically. Besides that, Lo studies the six major interpretations of Basic Law by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (SCNPC). Nevertheless, there are risks in stating that the SCNPC “refrains from exercising its power of interpretation” (p. 77) without giving an account of the negative effects of interpretation, for instance, skipping the procedure of the court's initiation in seeking SCNPC interpretation. The SCNPC's initiation in seeking an interpretation of Basic Law is often seen as a corrosion of the judicial independence of Hong Kong.
In chapter three, Lo argues that the independent agencies are the keys to consolidating horizontal accountability. Apart from the well-researched Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), Lo's inclusion of the Audit Commission, the Office of Ombudsman and the Equal Opportunities Commission is a substantive contribution. Yet, recent ICAC scandals have not only undermined the reputation of that independent agency, but also cast doubt on the horizontal accountability of Hong Kong. Over-emphasizing horizontal accountability might only prove good governance and miss its linkage with “indigenous democracy.”
In chapter four, Lo studies the Occupy Central Movement (OCM) in great detail. The inclusion of different agencies during the movement is appreciated. However, giving equal emphasis to the radical group, Civil Passion (rexue gongmin), as to other leading groups, like the Hong Kong Federation of Students, deserves further explanation. The biggest pitfall of indigenous democracy in Hong Kong lies in the lack of democratic progress since 1997. Although a promise of universal suffrage in the election of chief executive and Legislative Council is printed in the Basic Law, there is still a long way to go to implementation. In chapter five, Lo attempts to outline the slow progress of democratic development in Hong Kong since the handover. However, the failure of democratic reform in 2014 and the outbreak of the OCM have again reflected the lack of a procedural perspective on democracy in Hong Kong. To claim a city democratic without procedural democracy/competitive elections, or at least a timetable for the implementation of universal suffrage, remains a tough, if not impossible, task.
All in all, this well-presented book not only provides a much-needed update to Hong Kong's democratization, but also provides different perspectives in assessing the democratization of Hong Kong. It will be of interest to scholars and students researching Hong Kong politics. More debates and studies are always welcome to rekindle the field of Hong Kong studies.
