The other day, Han Zheng, State Council Vice Premier in charge of Hong Kong and Macau affairs, laid down an “imperial decree” calling on Hong Kong to solve its housing problem. Soon afterwards, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) arrested a group of people in the New Territories suspected to be involved in corruption and fraud in relation to a Ding house property project. Now some people suspect the ICAC operation was related to Han’s call. According to a political source, although many people from the Heung Yee Kuk factions believe the timing is merely a coincidence and that people are being too sensitive, there must be something going on. There are indeed many signs indicating the influence of the Heung Yee Kuk and the Kuk factions may be undermined by Hong Kong’s electoral reform imposed by Beijing, the source said.

In the electoral reform proposal unveiled by the National People’s Congress, it is pointed out that among the political representatives in the reformed Election Committee that chooses Hong Kong’s top leader, only Legislative Council members will be retained, and no district councilors and Heung Yee Kuk members are included as representatives. Instead, there is a category called “delegates from local organizations”. The political source said that is the first thing that aroused suspicion in the political circle. As we know, the powers of district councilors in choosing Hong Kong’s chief executive will definitely be scrapped. “In this regard, does that mean Heung Yee Kuk delegates will also be removed from the committee?” asked the source. Even if the Kuk still has its representatives in the Election Committee, they might be treated merely as members of a “local organization”. “That would mean they have to compete for seats [in the committee] with some neighborhood associations or rural associations. If they get elected, they can get in; if they don’t, they won’t have any seat. That’s different from the present practice whereby there is a given number of seats for the Heung Yee Kuk.”

Another political source noted that while the Hong Kong government is pushing the “Lantau Tomorrow Vision” project as a solution to the city’s housing issue, that is a long-term plan that cannot douse the fire that is currently burning. In other words, the Hong Kong government has no short-term plan to present to Beijing. To increase housing supply in the short run, the authorities can set its sight on the agricultural lands held by real estate developers. It can also take back brownfield sites in the New Territories and build new housing there. Nevertheless, these sites involve the interests of a huge number of indigenous residents in the New territories. For years, the government can hardly touch brownfield sites, and the size of these sites has actually been expanding. “The government keeps saying the issue is highly complicated and is difficult to handle. The truth is it is unable to deal with the powerful guys in the New Territories.” The source added that in a commentary published by the Chinese Communist Party’s mouthpiece People’s Daily in 2019, it was pointed out that in order to solve Hong Kong’s housing issue, the government needed to have the courage to recover private sites through the Crown Lands Resumption Ordinance and build new housing on the sites. The target at the time was real estate developers. “But from the look of things, it seems it’s not just property developers but those from the Kuk factions are also the target. In particular, when the powers of the Kuk and the Kuk factions within the Election Committee are weakened in the future, there will be less resistance to attempts to recover brownfield sites than to initiatives to take back lands from property developers,” the source added.

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