A senior state official yesterday called on people to re-examine Deng Xiaoping's theories on the centenary of his birth to realise that universal suffrage was 'just a form, but not real democracy'.
Chen Zuo'er, deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, said Hong Kong would not be able to introduce universal suffrage unless there was a guarantee that such a system would return people who 'love the country and Hong Kong'.
He also told Xinhua that central government intervention in Hong Kong affairs was 'necessary and indispensable'.
'Deng Xiaoping advocated that the SAR should exercise a high degree of autonomy but cannot completely reject the central government's intervention. Incidents that endangered the fundamental interests of the nation and damaged the fundamental interests of Hong Kong might occur in the SAR.'
Quoting Deng, he said: 'If somebody wants to convert Hong Kong into a base to oppose the mainland under the guise of democracy, what can we do? We couldn't but intervene.'
Mr Chen recalled the late paramount leader's remarks on Hong Kong's democratic development.
