Since last year’s protests against the extradition bill, a lot of Hongkongers have started to speak of their hatred for the central and city governments, with some calling the Carrie Lam administration a group of “Hong Kong communists”. They claim that socialism and the Communist Party are the reasons why Hong Kong people are losing their freedom. Therefore the Communist Party should fall and a democratic government should be created in China (“West hoping in vain for China to move away from socialism”, August 16).

Such a focus on socialism and communism to bemoan the perceived erosion of rights is misguided. These ideologies have little to do with our problems in Hong Kong. The focus should be on how a government treats its people. For example, China is famous for censoring the internet, but it is doing so not because it is a communist regime, but because it has something to hide. Again, many democracies will control or curtail internet access for reasons seen by their administrations as justified.

Singapore is considered as having an authoritarian administration. Its first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew ruled the city-state for more than 30 years. Now Singapore is one of the most developed countries in Asia and Hong Kong’s rival for the crown of top regional financial hub. The autocratic Lee, who shaped modern Singapore, was considered one of the best “dictators” in the world and was revered as a statesman. This proves that an autocratic government can rule for the greater good.