'Beijing has no preferred candidate in HK election'
The central government has no preferred candidate in Hong Kong's chief executive election, the top Beijing official in the city said after weeks of rumours suggesting Henry Tang Ying-yen was favoured in the mainland's corridors of power.
Dr Peng Qinghua, head of the central government's liaison office in Hong Kong, fended off the notion that Beijing had a desired candidate in the leadership race. '[The] elections have to be held in a fair and just manner in accordance with the law,' he said. 'It is impossible that the central government has a favourite.'
It was Beijing's second public pronouncement on the March 25 election, after Wang Guangya , director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, said in October that choosing their next chief was in the hands of Hongkongers and not him.
Peng spoke as pressure mounted on Tang to take part in a face-to-face debate following a formal invitation from his rival Leung Chun-ying. Tang has declined to debate with any of his opponents. The first live debate, held on a radio show on Monday, featured only Leung and Democratic Party chairman Albert Ho Chun-yan.
Former Executive Council convenor Leung said his campaign chief had written to Tang's election office chairman to invite Tang to take part in a debate on population policy. '[Tang] chaired the Steering Committee on Population Policy for four to five years, so he must have his views on Hong Kong's population policy problems, including the influx of mainland mothers-to-be giving birth [in Hong Kong],' Leung said.
Tang said: 'I will consider [the invitation] when it is received. A debate can be meaningful and representative only if it is held at the right time.'
Cheng Yiu-tong, president of the Federation of Trade Unions - which holds 60 votes on the Election Committee - said they would nominate neither Leung nor Tang unless the candidates pledged to back legislation for standard working hours.
