Advertisement
Advertisement
Zhang Dejiang said young people lacked understanding. Photo: Xinhua

Beijing's top man for Hong Kong affairs says suffrage an 'opportunity not to be missed'

State leader criticises pan-democrats for threatening to snub Beijing's vote framework

The state leader in charge of Hong Kong affairs yesterday described achieving universal suffrage in 2017 as "a historic opportunity not to be missed".

Zhang Dejiang also warned that "a missed opportunity would not come again", sparking fears from a Hong Kong deputy to the National People's Congress that there would be little chance that the city could elect its leader by "one man, one vote" in future if the Legislative Council voted down the official reform package this summer.

Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai, a member of the NPC Standing Committee, said Zhang, the NPC chairman, criticised pan-democratic lawmakers for threatening to veto the local government's reform package this summer.

"He said some forces have publicly vowed to vote down the package to elect the chief executive by universal suffrage in 2017 … he said they are exhausting all means to obstruct Hong Kong' s path to democracy," Fan said.

She said that during the meeting with local deputies yesterday, Zhang reiterated Beijing's hope for achieving universal suffrage in 2017 but it must be based on the framework which was set down by the NPC Standing Committee in August.

Fan said Zhang also told them that "it is difficult to eliminate the negative effects of Occupy Central … which reflected that the young people lack understanding about the Basic Law and the country".

Fellow Hong Kong member, Brave Chan Yung, said Zhang warned that such an opportunity would not come again if the historic opportunity was missed in 2017. Chan expressed concern that Hong Kong might never be able to elect its leader by popular vote if the government proposal was rejected this summer.

But Elsie Leung Oi-sie, deputy director of the Basic Law Committee, said she believed Zhang was not suggesting that the city's political system could not be changed after 2017.

In August, the national legislature ruled that while Hong Kong can pick its chief executive by universal suffrage in 2017, it must only choose from two or three candidates endorsed by the majority of a 1,200-strong nominating committee.

The decision was criticised by pan-democrats for depriving Hongkongers of a "genuine" choice of hopefuls.

Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said the earliest possibility for universal suffrage would probably be the next chief executive poll in 2022 if the government proposal for 2017 was blocked.

Speaking before ending his four-day visit to Beijing, the chief executive said Zhang's comments should not be interpreted as "a warning".

In a veiled attack on the pan-democrats, Brave Chan said Zhang told deputies that "there are people who understand [what to do], but pretend to be foolish, while there are also people who want the government's reform package to be approved, but still insist on opposing it".

In an interview with the , Qi Pengfei, vice-chairman of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, said pan-democratic lawmakers would only be persuaded to support a reform package if it was backed by nearly 70 per cent of Hongkongers.

Qi, also director of Renmin University's research centre on Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, warned that Hong Kong would stagnate if the row over universal suffrage remained unresolved.

A Hong Kong government source said it had not made significant progress in arranging a meeting between mainland officials and pan-democrats.

Meanwhile Chen Zuoer, chairman of the association, a semi-official think-tank, expanded on comments by Premier Li Keqiang in his work report a day earlier.

Li had said Beijing would strictly comply with the national constitution and the Basic Law in considering Hong Kong affairs.

"If you don't talk about and understand the constitution, then you can't accurately implement the Basic Law," said Chen, who previously served as deputy director of the State Council's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office.

"Some people in Hong Kong criticised the central government for overriding the Basic Law with the Chinese constitution. This is a misconception."

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Zhang: reform opportunity is not to be missed
Post