Angry pro-democracy camp says 'one country, two systems' has been seriously undermined but vows to keep on fighting Hong Kong's autonomy had been undermined by Beijing's decision to rule out universal suffrage for the city in 2007, the pro-democracy camp said yesterday. The core principle of Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong had been set aside and rule was now dictated by Beijing, they said. Doubts about the legitimacy of the decision were also raised by the legal community. Yeung Sum, chairman of the Democratic Party, said he and his colleagues were very angry over the decision. 'It has seriously undermined the principle of 'one country, two systems'. It has totally shown we now have Beijing people ruling Hong Kong. We can never accept this,' he said. Dr Yeung said the decision had deeply damaged Hong Kong's autonomy, and foreign investors would also have doubts about the city's future. 'The Basic Law says we have to move forward, but now it is stepping in one place,' he said. The democrats also dismissed Beijing's consultation process for promoting reforms. 'It makes only a show of so-called listening to public opinion,' said another Democratic Party legislator, Cheung Man-kwong. Frederick Fung Kin-kee of the Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood said the Hong Kong government's proposals to Beijing suggesting that changes be made gradually had been ignored. The National People's Congress was blocking any meaningful change, he said. The democrats said they would never give up the fight for full democracy, and urged people to voice their demands by voting in the September Legislative Council elections and by taking part in demonstrations. Emily Lau Wai-hing of The Frontier said: 'People assumed Article 23 [on the national security law] would definitely pass, but after we came out in opposition, it failed. There are stumbling blocks, but we will continue to fight. This is not the end.' The Civil Human Rights Front, which organised the July 1 demonstration last year in which more than 500,000 marched for greater democracy, said a similar rally would be held this year. 'The pro-democracy camp will never give up. The only way to oppose Beijing officials ruling Hong Kong is to vote in the September Legco election,' Dr Yeung said. Law experts yesterday criticised the decision by the NPC Standing Committee, with some raising doubts over the legal basis for the move. Hong Kong Bar Association chairman Edward Chan King-sang expressed regrets and disappointment over the decision, which he said was rash. But he said the action was final and there was no other channel of appeal. He also questioned if the decision to maintain the number of directly elected and functional seats in the legislature in the 2008 election meant functional constituencies would never be abolished. Barrister Alan Leong Kah-kit, a member of the Article 45 Concern Group, said the NPC's decision was merely a way to make known its political position. 'You exercised your interpretation power [of the Basic Law] on April 6. What you have interpreted are laws. But the laws did not say that you can add your political position after giving the green light,' Mr Leong said.