Chief cites Cultural Revolution
Donald Tsang Yam-kuen drew fire from all points of the political compass yesterday after suggesting that democracy 'taken to its full swing' led to episodes such as the Cultural Revolution.
Even government supporters and an executive councillor joined the fray after the chief executive's remarks, made on an RTHK radio programme where he promised to deliver universal suffrage but cautioned that democracy could compromise social stability and government efficiency.
'People go to the extreme, and you have a cultural revolution, for instance, in China. When people take everything into their hands, then you cannot govern the place,' he said on the phone-in programme held to elaborate on his policy address.
When host Hugh Chiverton asked Mr Tsang if the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution could really be taken as an example of extreme democracy, Mr Tsang responded: 'What is it? People taking power into their own hands. Now, this is what it means by democracy, if you take it to the full swing. In other democracies, even if you have an elected person, then you overturn the policy ... that's not necessarily conducive to efficient government.
'You have to strike a balance somewhere and at the end of the day I do believe ... we are moving in a rational manner as far as universal suffrage goes.'
A source close to the government said Mr Tsang realised afterwards he had used a bad example that would spark public outrage. Later, his office released a statement saying: 'What the chief executive means is that we must have a democratic system that best suits the situation in Hong Kong. A system that will further improve the quality of governance.'