True democracy in Hong Kong is 'impossible', says Basic Law expert

A balance must be struck between Hongkongers' right to vote and Beijing's power to appoint the chief executive when the time comes to select the city's next leader, a prominent Basic Law expert said yesterday.

Albert Chen Hung-yee, a member of the Basic Law Committee, was defending his proposal to allow the central government to appoint the 2017 chief executive candidate with the second highest number of ballots if it considers the winner to be unfit.

His proposal was driven by a desire to avoid a "divided Hong Kong, just like what has been happening in Thailand recently", Chen said.

"From the pan-democrats' perspective, they are fighting for a 'relatively perfect' democratic system," he said. "But I think it is impossible for democracy in Hong Kong to be completely the same as that of an independent country. Since Hong Kong is not independent, the design of its democratic system must fit its status under the 'one country, two systems' framework," Chen told TVB yesterday.

He also called for Beijing to set out "clear standards" for how it would exercise its power of appointment, as part of efforts to seek a balance between the rights of Hongkongers and Beijing.

"Since its power to appoint is a substantial one, it has to be exercised according to certain standards," Chen said. "It fits the principle of the rule of law … to announce [the standards] when the system of election by universal suffrage is being designed."