JOYCE NGjoyce.ng@scmp.com
PUBLISHED : Sunday, 27 September, 2015, 3:48am
UPDATED : Sunday, 27 September, 2015, 3:48am
Paul Shieh Wing-tai SC described some mainlanders as being "so arrogant" in the light of China's global standing as to "talk nonsense".
A former Bar Association chairman has added a strongly worded message to an ongoing debate about cross-border conflict, saying "paternalistic" remarks from mainland officials hurt the feelings of Hongkongers.
Paul Shieh Wing-tai SC also described some mainlanders as being "so arrogant" in the light of China's global standing as to "talk nonsense".
Shieh, known for his vocal style during his leadership of the association, spoke up a day after Hong Kong's top judges emphasised judicial independence and the rule of law as core values, as opposed to a Beijing official's stance that the city's chief executive had a "transcendent" status.
In a pre-recorded speech aired on RTHK yesterday, the barrister said he wanted to talk about several aspects of Hong Kong-mainland differences.
First, the rule of law was a "deeply ingrained" concept in Hong Kong that was worth preserving, he said.
"I don't mean at all to impose our concept on the mainland, but I do think Hong Kong … is absolutely willing and able to help achieve 'the ruling of the country according to the law'," he said, referring to the principle often cited by state leaders.
Another difference, Shieh said, lay in basic values. He noted some mainlanders tended to think money was everything and that without them spending in Hong Kong, it would be "game over" for the city, and said this way of thinking was laughable and embarrassing.
"Why do mainlanders have this distorted idea? ... I don't hope this is the case, but I have noticed it is an official view that China is a strong and confident power now and that many people are waiting to earn China's money. Could this discourse have made some people … so arrogant about the achievements as to be talking nonsense?"
Hongkongers donated generously to the mainland in the 1960s and during heavy flooding in the 90s, he noted, but no such conceit had passed their lips.
Shieh then turned to mainland officials. He said Hongkongers would be criticised as being meddlesome if they ever spoke on affairs across the border, "but on the other hand, mainland officials and scholars keep saying things that clash with our way of life and values in a paternalistical and inappropriate way, [which] did not make us feel good".
A fortnight ago, Zhang Xiaoming , director of Beijing's liaison office in Hong Kong, sparked a debate on the city's political system by saying the chief executive had a "transcendent" status over the three branches of government, including the judiciary.
Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma Tao-li and his predecessor Andrew Li Kwok-nang later maintained the judiciary was independent and everyone was equal before the law.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1861666/former-hong-kong-bar-chief-hits-out-arrogance-mainlanders
