Carrie Lam said she did not understand politics but only understood governance. Miss Jiang Yun taught her that politics is everyone’s business.

Politics is everyone’s business, and everyone’s business is governance. All politics are governance, and all governance is politics. How does she dare to be the chief executive not understanding this simple logic?

Different politics have different governance, and the difference lies in who governs whom. In an autocratic system, the dictator governs the people, and in a democratic system, the people govern themselves.

Carrie Lam governs the people of Hong Kong under the command of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). This is Carrie Lam’s politics today. When the people of Hong Kong fight for democracy, they fight for their own governance. This is the politics of Hong Kong people today.

Governing the people can be said to be easy and difficult. If you act in accordance with the will of the people, the government will function well and the people will live in harmony. On the contrary, if you act against the will of the people, there will never be a day of peace.

There has always been a separation of powers in the hundred years of Hong Kong history. The Chief Justice of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal understands this, and the people of Hong Kong also understand this. Carrie Lam declaring the separation of powers as a division of labor is nothing but a tissue of lies. The three institutions have their own duties and responsibilities. How can they function if there is no division of labor? Work is divided between the chef and the waiter just as the work between Carrie Lam and Geoffrey Ma (the incumbent Chief Justice of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal) is also divided. A division of labor is where each does his or her own part separately. Whereas a separation of powers would restrict Carrie Lam from overseeing what Geoffrey Ma does while Geoffrey Ma can overrule what Carrie Lam does. The separation of powers represents one country, two systems; whereas a division of labor reflects one country, one system.

No matter how outstanding Carrie Lam is, it is impossible for her to defy the CCP. However, as the chief executive, she does not have to put in all her efforts, submit so many nasty ideas, sell her soul and go beyond the limits. Instead, she can act as a buffer between the CCP and the people of Hong Kong to slow down the pace of Hong Kong’s destruction. This would be governance as well as politics.

You will not die if the CCP asks you to do 80% but you only do 60%, but by doing so, the Hong Kong people can suffer less. On the other hand, you commit to 100% every time despite the CCP only asking you to do 80%. This is how Hong Kong is destroyed in your hands.

You cannot do without the CCP and vice versa. The CCP needs you to watch over Hong Kong on its behalf. You and the CCP mutually need each other, and it is not completely inflexible. Zhou Enlai who served as the first Premier of China under Mao Zedong during the Cultural Revolution. In spite of the fact that he had also done countless misdeeds, he tactfully dealt with issues as a mediator and did his share of protecting some veteran officials and intellectuals. The first Tiananmen Square protest broke out after his death, which proved that the people of China were tolerant of his evil actions done in the name of the king. This is governance as well as politics.

Of course Carrie Lam understands politics. In fact, she is proficient at playing the games and being manipulative, disregarding the interests of the Hong Kong people and pursuing her own personal power and wealth. She knows governance as well as politics on how to please the CCP and ruin Hong Kong.

There is a Chinese saying that goes for how long you live in sweet pleasure is how long you will fall into hell, which translates to what goes up must come down. There is also politics in this phrase. It is unfortunate that Carrie Lam does not understand it.

(Ngan Shun Kau is a veteran publisher and writer. His publications and works are award-winning. )

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