The hopes of Hongkongers must have turned to despair when they read the comments of Cheng Yiu-tong, a local delegate to the National People's Congress ('Universal suffrage 'impossible' in 2012, Beijing loyalist says', August 26). So we should stop day-dreaming about an elected chief executive and Legislative Council in 2012. At least Mr Cheng spoke his mind, rather than being a hypocrite. We should probably thank him for being so blunt, unlike some other politicians and our own top officials, who keep giving us false hopes of real democracy. He showed us that we must not get carried away with Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen's empty promise to find a solution to the universal suffrage issue before his term expires. Mr Tsang has proved that he is more politician than chief executive, and will not hesitate to make pledges and then break them. The green paper on constitutional reform is just a gimmick: Mr Tsang knows full what the leaders in Bejing think about it. In your report, Ma Ngok, a political analyst at Chinese University, said: 'The government should make clear its stance. If 2012 has already been ruled out, then it is actually cheating the Hong Kong people, because it is one of the options outlined in the green paper.' Your columnist Frank Ching ('Come clean on democracy in 2012, Beijing', August 28), dejectedly wrote that 'Hongkongers are not stupid'. Indeed, that is why a Chinese University survey found that more than half of them say 2017 is acceptable for the start of universal suffrage; that's because they are resigned to the fact that Beijing will not let them have it in 2012. The situation is getting very complex and confusing: although the green paper consultation is under way, Beijing politicians don't refrain from making disturbing comments and laying out obstacles. This creates a lot of unnecessary uncertainty, tension, disharmony, distress and discontent, which is bound to affect our long-term economic development. Our political future is dark. Mr Tsang should remember the simple saying: 'Justice delayed is justice denied'. A.L. Nanik, Tsim Sha Tsui
