Commentary: Hong Kong: The High Price Of Ignoring Democracy

Hong Kong went to the polls on Sept. 10 for the second time since the end of British rule. And once again the opposition Democratic Party took in a plurality of the votes--35%. Yet the Democrats ended up seriously underrepresented in the government because the system is rigged to favor the city's wealthy elite and keep Beijing content.

This might not have mattered in an earlier era--after all, for most of the 150 years that Britain ruled the territory, democracy was a concept almost as alien to Hong Kong as to its mainland overseer today. Yet citizens got enough taste of the forbidden fruit in the final years of British rule to want a second bite. Moreover, they are increasingly disgruntled with the government that has been imposed on them. Opinion polls show 80% of the public displeased with policy. And scandals involving everything from shoddy construction in public housing to government pressure to stifle nay-saying opinion pollsters is adding to the discontent.