The pro-democracy camp will today unveil its candidates for September's Legislative Council election after months of negotiation among various parties and groups. It is expected that Power for Democracy and the Hong Kong Democratic Development Network, which spearheaded the co-ordination efforts, will announce 25 candidates for geographical constituencies. It is understood four will run in the Hong Kong Island constituency, five in Kowloon East, three in Kowloon West, six in New Territories East and seven in New Territories West. The groups will also announce candidates for functional constituencies including those for the education, information and technology, catering, medical, accounting, arts and sport, legal and health services sectors. Following the heavy defeat suffered by pro-government candidates in the November district council elections, the pro-democracy camp said in December it aimed to win at least 30 seats in the Legco poll. But yesterday, Joseph Cheng Yu-shek, head of Power for Democracy and a professor at City University, said it would be hard to win 30 seats. 'You need a small miracle to achieve this target,' Professor Cheng said. Meanwhile, Yang Wenchang, commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong, yesterday criticised the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission's report for holding what he called a distorted view of the meaning of 'one country, two systems' and 'high degree of autonomy'. The congressional report criticised the mainland for making 'intrusive interventions with regard to matters of universal suffrage and direct elections' in Hong Kong. 'Only China is qualified to comment on 'one country, two systems',' Mr Yang said.
