P06-07

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Hong Kong 1. fell one place to rank 67 among 167 countries and regions in the 2015 EIU democracy index in which the SAR is 2. classifi ed as a “fl awed democracy”. The report said the 3. vanishing of a book publisher raised 4. worries about Chinese security control in Hong Kong. Yet, Hong Kong scored high in civil 5. freedoms. An academic, meanwhile, warned that the Lee Po incident must be 6. dealt with carefully.

1. Do you think Hong Kong can be considered a democracy?

2. How would you defi ne a democracy?

3. Does Hong Kong have more democracy now than before 1997?

4. Do Hong Kong people enjoy a high level of freedom?

5. How does freedom relate to democracy?

Worksheet

經 濟 學 人 智 庫

公 布 二 零 一 五

年 民 主 指 數 ，

在一百六十七個

國家及地區中，

香港排名微跌一

位至六十七。支

聯會指李波事件

揭露香港制度的

缺陷，但有學者

認為事件與香港

的民主無直接關

係。民主指數從

五方面評分，包

括選舉程序及多

元 化 、 公 民 自

由、政府運作、

政治參與及政治

文化。

背景資料

Worksheets in Teacher’s Corner

Answers on P12

C Critical thinking

A Vocabulary bank

Replace the highlighted words with words from the news article.

Writing tips

Flaw means a mark, blemish or other imperfection of an object

- The shop is offering a discount for the vase as it has a flaw on it.

As a noun, the word also means a fault or weakness in a person’s character

- John has his flaws but he is still a good friend.

Flaw also means a mistake or shortcoming in a plan or a theory

- Your argument contains serious flaws.

Flawed, when used as an adjective, means characterised by a defect or imperfection

- Flawed planning has caused the mission to fail.

Flawless is the opposite of flawed. It means without imperfections or defect; perfect

- She speaks flawless English.

Hong Kong fell one place in the global

1. ________ of democracy.

On the EIC 2015 democracy index, Hong Kong was placed 2. ________.

The SAR is categorised as a 3. ________ democracy by EIU.

- The Lee Bo incident reveals a range of 4.________ of Hong Kong’s systems.

- The incident raised questions about 5. ________ rights and protection.

- There is no 6. ________ relationship between Lee Bo and democracy.

EIU report 2015

Rank

Category

Opinions

B Fill in the blanks

1. __________________ 2. __________________ 3. __________________

4. __________________ 5. __________________ 6. __________________

Website@

Website@Democracy in an age of anxiety

goo.gl/GN0msI

Other global democracy ranking

democracyranking.org/wordpress/rank/

democracy-ranking-2015

28 January 2016Thursday

►Te

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Sin

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Go Onlinefor more stories

(The Standard, 22 January, 2016)

The disappearance of Lee Bo has ignited international concerns about Hong Kong’s freedom. (Sing Tao Daily)

HK slips in democracy rankings6 terms to know

disappearance (n) 失蹤• The police are investigating the disappearance of the

tycoon.

release (v) 發表• This is not the right time to release the sensitive report.

overall (adj) 總體的• Beth has shown overall improvement in her grades.

abysmal (adj) 糟透的• The working condition of this factory is abysmal.

ultimately (adv) 最終• The CEO is ultimately responsible for the performance of

the company.

threat (n) 威脅• Bird flu is a constant threat to public health.

Hong Kong Today

HONG Kong’s democracy took a beating last year as it dropped one place in a global ranking amid concerns about the

disappearance of a bookseller.

The Economist Intelligence Unit (經濟學人智庫) released the Democracy Index 2015, which provides a snapshot of the state of democracy worldwide.The index is based on the ratings of fi ve categories on a zero to 10 scale.

Hong Kong, categorised as a ‘fl awed democracy’, scored 4.3 on electoral process and pluralism, 5.7 on functioning of government, 5.5 on political participation, but 9.4 on civil liberties and 7.5 on political culture.

With an overall score of 6.5, Hong Kong placed just 67th out of 167 countries and territories. China’s score remained “abysmal” at 3.14.

The report said the disappearance of a book

publisher in Hong Kong raised concerns about the degree of control Chinese security forces have over Hong Kong and press freedom.

Richard Tsoi Yiu-cheong (蔡耀昌), vice president of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China (支聯會), said: “The Lee Bo (李波) incident reveals a wide range of fl aws of Hong Kong’s systems, mainly with ‘one country, two systems’, but also questions the human rights and protection in the SAR.”

But City University political scientist James Sung Lap-kung (宋立功) argued that he did not see any “direct relationship” between the Lee incident and democracy in the SAR. “I can only say if the missing incident is not carefully handled, it will create questions for personal security and freedom of speech in Hong Kong, which ultimately poses a threat to the one country, two systems principle.”