Beijing has become more fearful about the early introduction of universal suffrage in the wake of the chief executive election, a well-informed pro-Beijing source said.
The source revealed Beijing's post-mortem of the March 25 election was largely negative, although state leaders have indicated otherwise publicly.
He was referring to positive remarks by President Hu Jintao when meeting Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen in Beijing this month.
Mr Hu has hailed Mr Tsang's success in securing 'a high popularity rating, a high number of nominations and a high number of votes'.
'The lessons Beijing has drawn from the election are mostly negative,' the source said. 'It is not possible for them to agree to universal suffrage in 2012. The earliest possible date is 2017.'
He said the mainland authorities were surprised that Alan Leong Kah-kit secured entry to the election.
'Beijing is concerned the Election Committee mechanism has been unable to screen out people like Alan Leong, who are not acceptable to them, in the nomination period,' the source said. 'To them, the implication is that the democrats would be able to stand for universal suffrage when the Election Committee is transformed into a nominating committee for the popular vote.
