HONG KONG, October 12, 2016 — Brookings Institution's senior fellow, Richard Bush, argued that the failure of electoral reforms in Hong Kong was a "double tragedy," as an opportunity was missed for the further democratization of Hong Kong's political system and that it became much harder to address issues concerning Hong Kong's competitiveness and governance. Moving ahead, he remarked that China's central government is "Hong Kong's sovereign and people of that city has to live with that sovereign, for better or worse." While recognizing that popular elections alone do not automatically translate into good governance and political stability for Hong Kong, Bush believed that "it might have become the necessary first step.”  (1 hr., 16 min.)