The Vanishing Democracy in Hong Kong

Recent events in Hong Kong should alert those people who hope that economic development can lead to democratic change. A few weeks ago, the territoryࢀ™s fragile democratic order took another hit when opposition members of Hong Kongࢀ™s Legislative Council resigned to protest the disqualification of four of their members, labeled by the Chinese authorities as ࢀœunpatriotic.ࢀ I have a personal attachment to Hong Kong reaching back to the days when I was working in Beijing for the United Nations Development Program. Hong Kong was the place where my family and I fled for short breaks from the drab conformism and…