Beijing moves to meet Hong Kong pan-dems in bid to break universal suffrage deadlock
Meeting likely in late March in bid to break deadlock as crucial minority group in Legco vows to lobby hard for universal suffrage
Beijing officials are due to meet Hong Kong's pan-democratic lawmakers in late March at the earliest to discuss the city's political reform, amid an ongoing stalemate over universal suffrage.
Citing Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Raymond Tam Chi-yuen, pro-democracy lawmaker Frederick Fung Kin-kee said the central government had signalled a "positive attitude" towards meeting the crucial minority in the Legislative Council.
"I will lobby Beijing officials into accepting real universal suffrage for Hong Kong people who deserve to have this," said Fung, of the Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood.
"Everything is negotiable," he said, adding that Tam conveyed the message to him about a week ago and the timing for the meeting could be late March or early April.
A government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, also confirmed that the Hong Kong government was trying to set up talks between Beijing officials and pan-democratic lawmakers on political reform. Any meetings would likely come after the annual session of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in early March, the official said.
There were concerns about protests outside the meeting venue if Beijing officials came to the city to meet lawmakers, the official said. Guangdong province could be an alternative location, the official said, but arrangements would have to be made for valid travel documents for those who did not have them.
Accountancy sector lawmaker Kenneth Leung said the meeting should not take place in the liaison office in Western because the body enjoyed "no constitutional status".