Beijing official rules out any changes to 2017 election reform framework

There is "no room for amendment" to Beijing's framework on political reform and in the Hong Kong government's reform package, Basic Law Committee vice-chairman Zhang Rongshun said yesterday.

But former chief secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen doubted if Zhang's views fully represent the position of the nation's top legislature which set the framework.

Zhang is the first Beijing official to rule out the possibility of any compromise after the Hong Kong government unveiled its electoral blueprint last month.

The proposal is based on Beijing's decision last August, which ruled that when Hong Kong elects its leader by "one man, one vote" for the first time in 2017, it must choose from two or three candidates approved by the majority of a 1,200-member nominating committee.

All pan-democrat lawmakers vowed to veto the package, saying it deprives voters of a "genuine" choice of candidates.

But academics such as University of Hong Kong law professor Albert Chen Hung-yee and dissident pan-democrats have suggested amendments to break the political impasse.

However, after addressing about 150 Hong Kong businessmen, professionals and district councillors behind closed doors yesterday, Zhang said their efforts were in vain.