‘It’s better than nothing’: British Foreign Office backs Beijing’s reform framework for Hong Kong

Britain's Foreign Office says it believes Beijing's framework for electoral reform offers a "genuine choice" in the 2017 chief executive election.

Stephen Lillie, the Foreign Office Asia-Pacific director, said the decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress meant a fair choice of candidates could emerge from the proposed 1,200-member nominating committee.

"Is it possible to devise detailed arrangements within the terms of the [committee's] decision that allow up to three candidates to emerge from the nominating committee, who do not all look exactly the same with the same range of policies and the same political affiliation, from the pan-democrats to pro-Beijing parties?" he asked the British parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee. "Our assessment is that it is still possible to come up with arrangements that would allow that."

Britain's welcoming of a "genuine choice" of candidates shows London is throwing its full weight behind the current reform proposals, in its clearest attempt yet to heal a diplomatic rift with Beijing over Hong Kong.

Foreign Office minister Hugo Swire told the Foreign Affairs Committee he had urged members of the Legislative Council to look at Beijing's proposals.

"What we are saying is we want a package, to the benefit of all people of Hong Kong, to be endorsed because we very much want to see this road to a purer form of democracy undertaken by 2017 and then ultimately in 2020," he said.