By breaking its pledge to respect Hong Kong's democratic system for 50 years after the 1997 British handover , the Chinese Communist Party has practically destroyed acceptance of a "One Country, Two Systems" unification with Taiwan. That was the assessment of Chao Shao-kang, chairman of the China Broadcasting Corporation that is associated with Taiwan's nationalist but soft-on-Beijing Kuomintang (KMT) party, in a March 15, 2021 interview with the Chinese media outlet Duowei.[1]
Chao, who recently announced his intention to run as the Kuomintang presidential candidate in Taiwan's 2024 election,[2] is paraphrased as saying that "once Hong Kong and its democratic system are destroyed, no one in Taiwan will ever accept the One Country, Two Systems. Nobody wanted to accept it in the first place, but this way, no one ever will accept it."
Below are excerpts of Chao Shao-kang's interview with Duowei:[3]
Chao Shao-kang (Source: Taiwannews.com.tw)
'One Country, Two Systems Has Changed Into A 1.5 System'
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"When speaking of the change in Hong Kong's electoral system, Chao Shao-kang bluntly criticized it as subverting Deng Xiaoping's speech and asked how there could be two systems in this way.
"Chao went on to say that that One Country, Two Systems had changed into a 1.5 system, and now only a 1.1 system is left. Hong Kong is still not exactly the same as the mainland, but almost the same. Hong Kong's Legislative Council is dead and replaced by the Chinese National People's Congress.
"Chao stressed that the situation in Taiwan was different from that in Hong Kong, whose sovereignty had been taken back by China. But 'Taiwan, the Republic of China' was a 'sovereign and independent country.' Taiwan had been closely watching Hong Kong, paying great attention to how Beijing treated Hong Kong and its people.
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'But Even Deng Xiaoping's Final Say Could Be Changed'
"He said that he hoped that Beijing would think twice carefully because once Hong Kong and its democratic system are destroyed, no one in Taiwan will ever accept the One Country, Two Systems. Nobody wanted to accept it in the first place, but this way, no one ever will accept it.
"As for whether the 1992 Consensus would be affected by CCP's change in Hong Kong's electoral system, Chao Shao-kang said that the 1992 Consensus was a different issue, but the change would make people never believe what the Chinese Communist regime said.
"Deng Xiaoping promised Hong Kong that there would be no change for 50 years. What Deng Xiaoping said should be the final word on Hong Kong, right? But even Deng Xiaoping's final say could be changed. It is no wonder people don't believe what the CCP says. If the CCP is slowly becoming a super power, it must speak like a super power with credibility."
[1] It is worth noting that when it was founded in New York in 1999 by Pin Ho, Duowei, which is a news opinion website, recruited several dissidents to write for it; it was considered a "dissident outlet." In 2009, due to poor management, Duowei was sold to CCP-backed businessman Yu Pun-hoi, and its headquarters were moved to Beijing. Since then, it has become one of the semi-official news outlets that the Chinese government uses to test public opinion in the Chinese-speaking diaspora. Duowei News cannot be accessed from within China.
[2] Taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4123880,
[3] Dwnews.com/%E5%8F%B0%E6%B9%BE/60233139/%E8%B5%B5%E5%B0%91%E5%BA%B7%E6%AF%81%E4%BA%86%E9%A6%99%E6%B8%AF%E5%8F%8A%E6%B0%91%E4%B8%BB%E5%8F%B0%E6%B9%BE%E6%9B%B4%E4%B8%8D%E8%A6%81%E4%B8%A4%E5%88%B6, March 15, 2021.
