2017 Volume 63 Issue 1 Pages 98-103
For China, H.K., Macau and Taiwan, discussed here, are not part of provincials/autonomous administrative divisions, but are special administrative regions. Articles in this feature, discuss new political trends in this specific region. In these three regions, we can find some similar phenomena and different situations.
The first point is about national security and freedom/democracy. Chinese government strengthens the thread of cyber attack, and importance of national secret intelligences and social security. Such discourses lead the new regulations and acts to manage and sustain democracy, freedom, and constitutionalism, especially in Hong Kong. Facing with these new policy, Hong Kong people have so much negative behavior that they insist on deciding matters on Hong Kong by people there. However, such a situation is not found in Macau society where some matured social network is developed. And Taiwan’s case is also different from Hong Kong’s case, if the national government manages and sustains the democracy or constitutionalism, people would be against it by some activities like Sun Flowers movement, and express their opinions toward the administration by the vote at the elections.
The second point is about social diversities and splits. As economic growth and democratization in these regions, both social diversities and splits are created so seriously among generations, genders, and between urban and rural areas. Such social diversities and splits influences the political activities, like Sun Flower movement in Taiwan and umbrella movement in H.K.. These movements had proposed strong objections to the government, but the activist couldn’t unify these movements and institutionalize them into a political power. On Taiwanese presidential and member of parliament election in 2016, most of Sun Flower activists vote for the DPP candidate on presidential election, but those were partly scattered on the member of parliament election. So it’s so difficult to find the great common divisor among small segments of the society, and the definition of “democracy” and “constitutionalism” in these societies.
The final point is about Chinese stance to such phenomena in this region. As Hong Kong’s case, Chinese governments kept its authority to make interpretation on the situation and to decide the Yes or No on the problems, especially in Hong Kong and Macau. People in Hong Kong cannot decide their situation at present and in the future, in the contrast to people in Taiwan, where they can decide their future by themselves.
