Talks between protesters and government must proceed on basis of trust
Michael C. Davis says despite the gap between protesters' demands and the government's stance, talks can still yield progress if people's sincere desire for democracy is taken seriously
Hong Kong people and the media are surely wondering whether anything positive can come out of the proposed democracy negotiations. With the National People's Congress Standing Committee decision effectively denying universal suffrage and the protesters demanding both civil nominations and international standards, the government is between the proverbial rock and a hard place.
The protesters are no better off in seemingly asking for what is widely believed to be impossible. Few people expect Beijing to change its mind.
But, with such passionate public support behind protest demands, it is not time to throw in the towel. A constructive and sincere dialogue between the government and protesters could move the ball forward for both.
First, the protesters should not object to the government's position that anything discussed should be based on the Basic Law. In fact, the protest leaders should insist on this. Hundreds of thousands of protest supporters took to the streets to demand that the government fulfil its commitment to universal suffrage under the Basic Law. The public has not been prepared to accept "fake democracy" as meeting Basic Law requirements.
The government will argue that complying with the Basic Law means adhering to the NPC Standing Committee decision. The Standing Committee decision is just a decision, not an interpretation. Universal suffrage is more than "one person, one vote". If that is all that is required, then even mainland China today could lay claim to having universal suffrage.
As the UN Human Rights Committee has made clear, for an electoral process to qualify as a democracy with universal and equal suffrage, the voters must be given a free choice in a competitive election. The pan-democratic camp has consistently won 55 to 60 per cent of the popular vote. Excluding them from nomination clearly falls way short of the Basic Law commitment to universal suffrage. It also engenders the very contention in Hong Kong that China seeks to avoid.
