State leader calls for rational debate on political reform

Vice-President Xi Jinping called for rational discussion on constitutional reform 'in view of Hong Kong's interests as a whole' when he met local Beijing loyalists yesterday.

The state leader also heard complaints against the term 'uprising' in connection with the de facto referendum, pushed forward by the Civic Party and the League of Social Democrats, during his two-hour meeting with Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference delegates from Hong Kong and Macau. The delegates were attending the annual plenary session of the CPPCC in Beijing.

Five lawmakers from the two groups have quit to trigger by-elections, which they view as a de facto referendum on the pace and scope of democratisation.

Of the Hong Kong government's three-month public consultation on electoral reforms, which ended last month, Xi said: 'The majority of citizens hope that Hong Kong's political system will move forward in 2012, on the basis of the Basic Law and the relevant decision made by the National People's Congress Standing Committee.'

In 2007, the committee made a decision banning Hong Kong from introducing universal suffrage in 2012, but saying it may do so for the chief executive election in 2017 and the Legco election in 2020.

'The central government wholeheartedly hopes that Hong Kong people from all walks of life will keep on holding rational and pragmatic discussion in view of Hong Kong's interests as a whole, reaching wide consensus and pushing forward the democratic development in the special administration region in a gradual and orderly manner,' Xi said.

Hong Kong property tycoon Sir Gordon Wu Ying-sheung, a CPPCC member, criticised the de facto referendum campaign at the meeting. 'There is a minority group of people who openly oppose China. They say they want to launch an uprising and liberalise Hong Kong. They have ulterior motives. People must understand that Hong Kong cannot rely on the influence of external forces,' he said.