Hong Kong City-State Autonomy Movement
The autonomous city-state status of Hong Kong comes from Hong Kong’s history of British rule for more than 150 years, which enabled Hong Kong to isolate itself from the Chinese Mainland, to avoid revolutions and turmoil there, so that Hong Kong has preserved traditional Chinese culture and British civilization and law.
After the sovereignty of Hong Kong was transferred to Communist China in 1997, “one country, two systems” has been implemented in Hong Kong in accordance with the Basic Law. The spirit of Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong and a high degree of autonomy is a continuation or heritage of the city-state characteristic of Hong Kong during British rule, rather than something out of the blue.
In the face of the enormous population and capital of Mainland China, if Hong Kong cannot adopt effective self-protective measures, its city-state setup will definitely be destroyed, which will also indirectly lead to China losing a valuable referential system and a cultural resource.
The Hong Kong Autonomy Movement (abbrev. HKAM) is a local awareness promotion movement based on the constitutional order laid down by the Basic Law of Hong Kong. It urges the Hong Kong Government to give priority to Hong Kong people and local interests when stipulating public policies and special administrative measures (such as imposing restrictions on Mainland pregnant women coming to Hong Kong for giving birth). When the Hong Kong Government negotiates with the Central Government or other regional governments, it must protect the local interests of Hong Kong and be answerable to the Hong Kong people.
The 150 years’ foundation of Hong Kong as laid down under British rule was the preparation for “one country, two systems” and Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong. So the Dragon-Lion emblem of Hong Kong is adopted as the symbol and sign of The Hong Kong Autonomy Movement, as it stresses the historical continuity and cultural subjectivity of Hong Kong as a city-state.
The vision of the city-state autonomy is as follows. During the 50 years of implementation of the Basic Law, any constitutional arrangement of Hong Kong beyond “one country, two systems” has to be authorized by the People’s Republic of China. When the Basic Law has been implemented for 50 years, the constitutional status of Hong Kong will also have to inherit something like the city-state status quo of Hong Kong, so that there will be reasonable expectations when the “one country, two systems” is being implemented.
In case of transformation of the Communist Party of China or disintegration of the People’s Republic of China, supporters of The Hong Kong Autonomy Movement will urge the Hong Kong Government to negotiate with the new China regime on behalf of the people of Hong Kong, so that Hong Kong’s local interests will be protected and it will not be devoured by the new Chinese Government.
The Hong Kong Autonomy Movement is a civic movement promoting one country, two systems and a high degree of autonomy rather than an independence movement advocating secession.
A Cultural Reinterpretation of the Dragon-Lion Emblem of Hong Kong
The Emblem of the Hong Kong City-State Autonomy Movement symbolizes protection through the combination of the dragon and the lion, that is, the distillation and blending of the best parts of the Chinese and British traditions. The Hong Kong flag of the Chinese dragon and the British lion embodies the spirit of merging Chinese and British cultures, honours the history of Hong Kong, and guards the city-state of Hong Kong. This flag inherits the Hong Kong Ensign under British rule. With the newly added Chinese characters, 香港 (Hong Kong), and the white background changed to the free and noble blue, it symbolizes Hong Kong people keeping their foothold in Hong Kong, sustaining themselves, and autonomously ruling themselves.
The dragon rides on the heavens and the lion strides across the earth. The merging of the lion and dragon means the dragon walking on earth and the lion soaring to the sky. In the face of the Communist Chinese wolf, the people of Hong Kong are not lambs but the vigorous offspring of the Chinese dragon and British lion. Just like a lion mounting the clouds and a tiger with wings, we cannot be put on the same par as the wolf and we will not be in the same room with it.
The Coat of Arms of Hong Kong was designed by the British College of Arms, and it represented Hong Kong between 1959 and 1997. Elegant and noble, upright and balanced, this flag has been familiar to the people of Hong Kong, and it contains Hong Kong’s culture and history. According to The Book of Songs, “Although Zhou is an old state, its mission is to reform and to renew.” The Hong Kong Autonomy Movement reinterprets this flag as follows:
The dragon belongs to the Chinese tradition, symbolizing viability and flexibility; Hong Kong is the repository and guardian of Chinese culture. The lion belongs to the British tradition, symbolizing justice and bravery. Hong Kong is the inheritor and promoter of British culture. The people of Hong Kong are the offspring of the dragon and the lion, the hybrid child of Chinese and British cultures. The shield jointly guarded and supported by the dragon and the lion standing on the territory of Hong Kong symbolizes Hong Kong’s state of being civilized and cultured. The tower above the shield symbolizes the city-state of Hong Kong; the crown on top of the tower symbolizes Hong Kong’s inheriting the full cultural traditions and making herself a king. The junks on the sea stand for Hong Kong’s history as a trading port as well as the adventurous sea-faring spirit. The crown worn by the big lion symbolizes the fact that Hong Kong was once ruled by the British monarch; the small lion holding the dragon pearl symbolizes the ruler of the city-state of Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Autonomy Movement preserves the crown for two reasons:- Firstly, to inherit noble spirit, secondly, to make Hong Kong a king forming a constitutional, republican and democratic government and ruling with benevolence and righteousness.
Note: As Hong Kong lacked discussions about city-state autonomy before 1997, no spiritual signs or heraldries have been left, and up till now, a common symbol for Hong Kong is not available. Our adoption of the dragon-lion flag aims at impelling and inspiring the people of Hong Kong by means of a familiar sign. Moreover, as the significance of the original flag has seldom been explored by the people of Hong Kong, it is susceptible to a brand new interpretation. Certain left-wing participants in local resistance movements may find it hard to tolerate our borrowing the cultural sign of the British colony, and may insist on decolonizing Hong Kong and bringing Hong Kong citizens back to the chainless primal state before resisting the tyranny of the local government and of the CCP. We think that this is impracticable. First of all, we cannot possibly return to the primal state. This kind of attempt at decolonization is doomed to fail and thus tolerable to the CCP. In addition, in order to deal with tyranny and struggle with the new colonizer, we must have resources, even resources given to us by the former colonizer. Without weapons, especially a familiar one, one is unable to fight.
Objectives of HKAM
- Universal Suffrage
- A Hong Kong Government which makes policies for the needs and interests of
- Long term housing and land policies to ensure the quality of life of
- To reinvigorate the local industries and agriculture
- To reformulate immigration policy; to regain full authority in approving immigrants from Mainland
- To review the constitutional framework under the Basic Law
- To defend the city-state of
- To establish local language policies and to protect the Hong Kong culture
- To review Hong Kong's currency standard and monetary policies to strengthen
June 2011
