The centrist camp, also known as the moderate camp or moderate groups,[1] is Hong Kong's moderate political alignment.
Centrist camp 中間派 | |
|---|---|
| Ideology | Centrism Factions: Liberalism (HK) Conservatism (HK) |
| Legislative Council | 2 / 90 (2%) |
| District Councils | 5 / 470 (1%) |
| Election Committee | 1 / 1,500 (0.07%) |
The centrist camp represents a moderate view between the pro-Beijing and pro-democracy camps. However, depending on the political party, it may lean closer to either.
Although they are not actively pro-government at the level of the pro-Beijing camp, the centrist camp interacts with the mainland Chinese government. For example, Ronny Tong on the Path of Democracy entered the Executive Council of Hong Kong, Chow Yick Hay (周奕希) on the Third Side is a Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference member based on Zhaoqing[2] and vice-chairman of the Kwai Tsing District Council.[3] This is in contrast to the pro-democracy camp, which doesn't interact with the mainland government at all.
History
editPolitical events such as the Umbrella Movement and Waiting for Uncle Fat led to social differentiation; the pro-democracy camp was divided and some formed the localist camp.
In 2015, Ronny Tong, a member of the Civic Party, left the Civic Party and resigned as a member of the Legislative Council, advocated political reform, and formed a centrist organization, 'Path of Democracy'. Around the same time, former Legislative Council member Tik Chi-yuen of the Democratic Party bolted from the party and formed the 'Third Side' with Wong Sing-chi, another former Legislative Council member who was expelled from the Democratic Party.
A 2015 poll by The University of Hong Kong found that 41.9% of Hong Kong's population are centrists, 28.4% of pro-democracy camp supporters, and 11.4% of pro-Beijing camp supporters.[4]
Christine Fong and Wong Sing-chi, classified as centrist in the 2016 New Territories East by-election, lost to Alvin Yeung, classified as pro-democracy camp. At the time, Christine Fong received 33,424 votes, while Wong Singh-chi received 17,257 votes; in New Territories, the centrist camp received about 12%.
Third Side chairman Tik Chi-yuen claims that voters abandoned the centrist line and voted for a pro-Beijing camp because of the 'Returning to the Edge Effect' (歸邊效應) in the election. He analyzed that the centrist camp is likely to win 1 seat in the New Territories if it works with centrist politicians at the 2016 Hong Kong legislative election.[5]
In the 2016 Hong Kong legislative election; Wong Singh-chi bolted from the Third Side and ran for the Social Welfare functional constitution, Tik Chi-yuen ran for the Kowloon West, Christine Fong was eliminated from 10th place with 34,544 votes in the eastern district of New Territories,[6] the Path of Democracy sent two lists to Hong Kong Island and the eastern part of the New Territories and losing with 10,028 and 8,084 votes (respectively, which was a very small number of votes, resulting in the confiscation of the election deposit).
On 1 July 2017, Ronny Tong joined the Executive Council of Hong Kong composition.
In January 2018, the pro-democracy camp decided to hold a primary election to select candidates for the March 2018 Hong Kong by-elections, and Frederick Fung, who was still a member of Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood (ADPL) at that time, became a preliminary candidate ("Plan B"), but the pro-democracy camp persuaded Frederick Fung to give up his position as "Plan B". Under the pressure of various parties, Frederick Fung announced that he would give up his position, and at the same time, it sowed the seeds of Frederick Fung's defection from the pro-democracy camp.
In July 2018, Frederick Fung withdrew from ADPL, and in September, he expressed his intention to run in the by-election to show his opposition to the pro-democracy camp's preordaining of Lee Cheuk-yan to serve as preliminary candidate ("Plan B"). After Frederick Fung's break with the pro-democracy camp, ADPL immediately expressed its stance in support of Lee Cheuk-yan. During the canvassing period of the by-election, Frederick Fung was criticized by Lee Cheuk-yan for "vote rigging", which had a negative impact on the pro-democracy camp, describing him as "Team B of the pro-establishment camp". In the end, both Lee Cheuk-yan and Frederick Fung lost the by-election because their combined votes were less than that of Chan Hoi-yan, the representative of the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong.
In 2019, the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement caused a backlash from Hong Kong public opinion, and Ronny Tong, as an executive council member, intensified the confrontation over the Hong Kong government's Extradition Law. After the Umbrella Movement, political conflict in Hong Kong society intensified again, narrowing the political space of the centrist camp. At the 2019 Hong Kong local elections, the centrist camp won only four seats, and all four running for Ronny Tong's Path of Democracy lost with a low vote and their election deposit was confiscated.
In 2020, Hope for Hong Kong was founded; the majority of its members are from or related to pro-business parties. However, the party was disbanded after a year.
In the 2021 Hong Kong legislative election, only one Tik Chi-yuen was elected from several centrist figures.
Political organizations
editCurrent
edit- Professional Power (2010–present), also included in the pro-Beijing camp.
- Path of Democracy (2015–present)
- Third Side (2016–present)
- HK Round Table On People’s Livelihood (2022–present)
The Roundtable is not part of the centrist camp but has a moderate view among the pro-Beijing camp parties and is friendly to the centrists.
Former
edit- Hope for Hong Kong (2020–2021)
Macau
editIn Macau, there 2 political parties that are part of the centrist camp. They are the Synergy of Macao and Macao Civic Power.
References
edit- ^ Chih-Jou Jay Chen & Victor Zheng (2021). Changing Attitudes toward China in Taiwan and Hong Kong in the Xi Jinping Era. "... voters includes voters who responded as independent voters, moderate groups (中間派), 'all supported,' 'neither supported,' and 'not a party ...". 中央研究院社會學研究所 [Institute of Sociology, Academia Sinica].
- ^ "葵青同道投建制 泛民難翻盤". Archived from the original on 2018-11-12. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
- ^ "愛國社團推薦 民建聯優先 194人名單 自由黨僅佔2". Archived from the original on 2018-11-12. Retrieved 2018-11-12.
- ^ "七成民意認同 港需溫和中間派". 香港商報. 2015-10-07. Archived from the original on 2016-03-14.
- ^ "得票無增長 中間派感失望". 香港太陽報. 2016-03-01. Archived from the original on 2016-03-14. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
- ^ "險勝方國珊 梁國雄幸保尾席". 香港蘋果日報. 2016-09-06. Archived from the original on 2016-09-07. Retrieved 2016-09-06.
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