Road to democracy opens up
A key meeting in Shenzhen on December 2 was eclipsed two days later by the pro-democracy rally. But its significance should not be missed.
A group of Hong Kong lawmakers sat down with a senior mainland official and heard him make comments that had never before been uttered, by a high-level Beijing representative, about universal suffrage for the city.
Other mainland officials have accepted that the ultimate aim was universal suffrage, but Qiao Xiaoyang - the deputy secretary-general of the National People's Congress Standing Committee - was the first to acknowledge Hongkongers' desire for a timetable.
Mr Qiao noted that there were two kinds of public views: those that support the government's political reform package and those fighting for a timetable for universal suffrage. However, the two are not mutually opposed: in fact, they are consistent with each other and both can be achieved, he said.
But the timetable and the Hong Kong government's political package could not be bundled together - although both were important, and public views on both issues needed to be respected. That is to say, the central government respected the fact that many people in Hong Kong wanted a timetable and would not ignore it, he said.
Democratic Party legislator James To Kun-sun was one of the few people to recognise the significance of the statements. He said it was the first time that a central government official had taken a stance on a timetable and acknowledged that universal suffrage was wanted by the mainstream.
Similarly, an editorial in Ming Pao said Mr Qiao 'acknowledged it to be a mainstream view in Hong Kong that there should be a timetable for achieving universal suffrage ... [and that it] was what the majority of Hong Kong people wished'.
The pro-Beijing Wen Wei Po noted that Mr Qiao was conveying a message of support from Beijing for discussions on drawing up a timetable for universal suffrage.
The China Daily noted on Friday that while public opinion supported the Hong Kong government's political reform package, 'the public has ... longed for a universal-suffrage timetable'. It added: 'We cannot acknowledge one and deny the other.'
It is significant that Beijing has now endorsed the idea of a timetable and feels it is legitimate for Hongkongers to discuss the topic. This in itself is great progress. No longer is Beijing saying that democrats are unpatriotic.
It is important for Beijing to reaffirm this message now, and indicate that - if a consensus were to emerge in Hong Kong on a road map and a timetable - it would not veto, but would act upon, it. Beijing should make it clear that this is not a diversionary tactic meant to delay democracy, but a serious process.
Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen has said that the Commission on Strategic Development will try to wrap up discussions on the principles and concepts relating to universal suffrage by the middle of next year, and on the design of a universal suffrage system by the early part of 2007.
Then, according to Mr Tsang, a timetable will be possible.
Now that Beijing has blessed work on a road map and timetable, this is what Hong Kong should focus on. We know that universal suffrage is not possible for 2007 and 2008, so let's not waste time talking about it.
If the Commission on Strategic Development should come up with a road map and timetable in the next couple of years, then the time would not have been wasted.
Frank Ching is a Hong Kong-based writer and commentator
