Liberally Speaking

I am sure that the latest controversy surrounding the leader of Hong Kong's Liberal party, and his injudicious remarks made in anger and directed at a senior and highly respected member of the business community will have been greeted with a mixture of comments ranging from "Not again!" to "Oh well, it's only James" and then to, well frankly, just utter disbelief.
Full credit to James, in the aftermath of this outpouring for actually owning up to an affront to the business community in general, but to his "target", C K Chow in particular, with a full apology. But then this is not the first time that James has been condemmed for speaking in haste, or perhaps not being quite so sure of his facts. It is also not the first time that his politics have got in the way of his previous role as a businessman, a community he generally states he supports. But one also needs to consider that he is not beyond actually carrying out "threats" from behind closed doors. A fact I know first hand at a cost to my personal credibilty from experiences with James in matters relating to the HKGCC. And for which I also received an apology - sort of; but let's not dwell too much on the past!
James will be comforted, doubtless, by the fact that he has been joined in the affront to common sense stakes this last week, following comments made by Hong Kong's Chief Executive on the very subject of democracy which, once again led to an apology.
How often do we hear that Hong Kong is ready for democracy, because it is politically mature? Well, I don't argue with the first comment as I think that many in Hong Kong both believe in democracy and will handle it well - although I am less demanding than others on the time frame - but how on earth do we convince the outside world about our state of readiness when our political leaders seem to suffer from a bad case of "Foot in Mouth" disease?

Comments

[Tulika]

"Asian Godfathers" by Joe Studwell, might have similar startling examples of the perceived "threats". I also read an article saying something similar about the "enduring" relationship between politicos and business tycoons in Southesat Asia. However to your second point about democracy, I was surprised to find the extent to which some political figures and businessmen can control the fate of HK in this matter.