Bonniecanuck
DIEF WILL BE THE CHIEF AGAIN
- Location
- Formerly Hong Kong, currently London
- Pronouns
- she/her + they/them
Sir Mark Aitchison Young, wartime Governor of Hong Kong, did not last long in the office. Taking over just two months before the Japanese invaded Hong Kong, he spent four years enduring severe mistreatment as POW, only resuming his duties in May 1946 after some time recuperating in Britain while Rear Admiral Cecil Harcourt led a provisional military administration in his stead, before retiring after just over a year in July 1947.
However, Young and his successor Sir Geoffry Northcote were progressive administrators for their time, and Young put forward a series of sweeping reforms envisioning universal suffrage, which included the ethnic Chinese populations of the territory, for a 30-member "Municipal Council" to complement the existing 15-member Legislative Council, in addition to two indirectly-elected Unofficial Legislators on the LegCo. However, his moves were met with stiff opposition from many of the existing elites and legislators, which included D.F. Landsdale, the Chairman of Jardine Matheson & Co. (and future RBS President), many of whom believed that granting the franchise to the Chinese would cause the territory to be drawn into the politics of the Chinese Civil War and the rise of the Communists. Other legislators, like Lo Man-kam (a mixed-race lawyer), opposed the proposal on the grounds that the proposal would open new cans of worms with regards to issues like racially equitable and representative divisions, gerrymandering, and such. In the end, various amendments to the proposal, including limiting the franchise to British nationals only, failed, and the proposal was scuppered by Young's successor Sir Alexander Grantham by 1952.
The entire debate process of the Young Plan was a very convoluted one, despite the general agreement that the colony's government needed and deserved to have serious reform. But is it possible that part of the inability to proceed was the absence of Sir Mark? Grantham was conservative and had experienced the communist-led strikes in 1922 and 1935 as a member of the cadet corps, which coloured his views of the Chinese populace and their rights to self-government - notably, he believed the local Chinese communities cared little about social welfare. Him stopping the plan after gradually disengaging the Governor's office from it was probably to be expected.
So let's say Young's health is in a rather better state, and he finds the will to stay in the office as long as the plan is still being discussed. Can it still get passed, either in its original form as put forward by Young, or with the watered-down amendments and proposals as put forward by the likes of Landsdale or Lo? And if it does, how do their predictions pan out? Does Hong Kong get more closely drawn towards Mainland affairs? Keeping in mind, the Chinese Civil War is still very much ongoing, and as the Communists encroach on the south after their successful campaigns of late 1948-early 1949, political reform might be the last thing on people's minds.
In short: can the Young Plan succeed, can it survive the entrenched opposition of the conservatives, and if it can, what happens to Hong Kong down the line?
However, Young and his successor Sir Geoffry Northcote were progressive administrators for their time, and Young put forward a series of sweeping reforms envisioning universal suffrage, which included the ethnic Chinese populations of the territory, for a 30-member "Municipal Council" to complement the existing 15-member Legislative Council, in addition to two indirectly-elected Unofficial Legislators on the LegCo. However, his moves were met with stiff opposition from many of the existing elites and legislators, which included D.F. Landsdale, the Chairman of Jardine Matheson & Co. (and future RBS President), many of whom believed that granting the franchise to the Chinese would cause the territory to be drawn into the politics of the Chinese Civil War and the rise of the Communists. Other legislators, like Lo Man-kam (a mixed-race lawyer), opposed the proposal on the grounds that the proposal would open new cans of worms with regards to issues like racially equitable and representative divisions, gerrymandering, and such. In the end, various amendments to the proposal, including limiting the franchise to British nationals only, failed, and the proposal was scuppered by Young's successor Sir Alexander Grantham by 1952.
The entire debate process of the Young Plan was a very convoluted one, despite the general agreement that the colony's government needed and deserved to have serious reform. But is it possible that part of the inability to proceed was the absence of Sir Mark? Grantham was conservative and had experienced the communist-led strikes in 1922 and 1935 as a member of the cadet corps, which coloured his views of the Chinese populace and their rights to self-government - notably, he believed the local Chinese communities cared little about social welfare. Him stopping the plan after gradually disengaging the Governor's office from it was probably to be expected.
So let's say Young's health is in a rather better state, and he finds the will to stay in the office as long as the plan is still being discussed. Can it still get passed, either in its original form as put forward by Young, or with the watered-down amendments and proposals as put forward by the likes of Landsdale or Lo? And if it does, how do their predictions pan out? Does Hong Kong get more closely drawn towards Mainland affairs? Keeping in mind, the Chinese Civil War is still very much ongoing, and as the Communists encroach on the south after their successful campaigns of late 1948-early 1949, political reform might be the last thing on people's minds.
In short: can the Young Plan succeed, can it survive the entrenched opposition of the conservatives, and if it can, what happens to Hong Kong down the line?