Opinion | Chinese officials should stop commenting on electoral reform
Frank Ching says the unsolicited opinions of mainland officials about Hong Kong's electoral reform only complicate the process
" Let's talk and achieve universal suffrage," says the English version of the consultation document for Hong Kong's political reform. The Chinese version says yau seung yau leung, promising room for negotiation. However, the language and tone adopted by mainland officials in Hong Kong suggest just the opposite.
Hao Tiechuan, the publicity director of the central government's liaison office, responded swiftly to the "three-track proposal" of the Alliance for True Democracy by saying it may violate the Basic Law.
In contrast, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Raymond Tam Chi-yuen said on the same day: "I think it's too early to say whether a particular proposal is consistent or otherwise with the provisions of the Basic Law. As [members of] the Task Force on Constitutional Development, we should not, and we will not, comment on an individual proposal because … it is premature to say so."
It is embarrassing for Hong Kong officials to have mainland officials not only looking over their shoulders but, in effect, telling them what their attitude should be on universal suffrage elections, at a time when the government is soliciting public views.
As it is, the government has already tripped up by accepting the view of another mainland official, Qiao Xiaoyang, chairman of the Law Committee of the National People's Congress, that the decisions of the nominating committee are "a form of organisational nomination".
Tam had to acknowledge on Saturday that this requirement was not in the Basic Law.