Full text of former Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa’s speech on Hong Kong’s political reform

The decision by the National People’s Congress Standing Committee a few days ago on the framework for the election of the chief executive has confirmed that from 2017 onward the people of Hong Kong will elect our chief executive by universal suffrage, fulfilling the collective aspiration of the people of Hong Kong. I fully support this decision, just as large numbers of Hong Kong people do.

At the same time, I observed many friends in the pan-democratic camp have reacted with anger and disappointment to the NPC decision. I understand how they feel. I understand how deeply and strongly felt those emotions are. This is why what I am going to say now also comes from deep within me.

In 1997, I was chosen chief executive by a selection committee composed of only 400 people. Subsequently, the committee was expanded from 400 to 800, and later from 800 to 1200. Each time, we took a significant step towards democracy.

By 2017, we will no longer be taking just another incremental step; we will be ushering Hong Kong into a new chapter in history, a grand chapter to be written collectively by the people of Hong Kong. This is because by then, some five million voters in Hong Kong will have a chance to cast their ballots. Come to think of it: of the 2.4 million families in Hong Kong, each will have at least one member eligible to vote.

Between 1997 and 2017, a short span of just 20 years, we have moved from having Britain parachute a governor into Hong Kong to having five million voters choosing their own leader. In the grand sweep of history, this is a glittering achievement. It represents the well-deserved fruits of our desire for democracy. It is also concrete proof of our nation’s positive response to our aspiration.

Today, on the eve of Hong Kong’s crucial development in our long history, on the verge of our going for the biggest political leap, how can we possibly choose to stand still? How can we let our march towards democracy stop and stall?

Five million voters personally picking their leader is not airy-fairy democracy. It is democracy real and substantial. What’s more, this is by no means democracy in its final form. If, after 2017, we desire to further improve our democratic system, there is clear mechanism within the Basic Law for us to do so.