Leave room for debate, moderates urge Beijing
Alan Hoo and Henry Tang say some questions on reform should be left to Hong Kong to decide
Moderate voices in the Beijing-loyalist camp are urging the central government to leave room for further discussion when it sets out its stall on Hong Kong's political reform next week.
Barrister and Basic Law expert Alan Hoo and former chief secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen were among those striking a conciliatory tone on the sidelines of talks between Hong Kong delegates to national political bodies and Beijing officials in Shenzhen.
Their views are in stark contrast to those of several prominent Beijing-loyalist groups, which want the National People's Congress Standing Committee to rule that candidates for chief executive in 2017 must obtain the support from a majority of nominating-committee members before the public can vote for them.
The Standing Committee meets next week to set a framework for reform as the city debates how to implement universal suffrage in 2017.
Hoo, chairman of the Basic Law Institute think tank, noted that the mini-constitution "does not require" candidates to win the support of more than half of the nominating committee, although such a rule would follow the requirement for nomination by "democratic procedure".
And Hoo, also a deputy to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, urged Beijing not to impose legal restrictions on candidates based on national security concerns, "because national security can be dealt with by legislating under Article 23 of the Basic Law".
Article 23 requires Hong Kong to implement laws against treason, secession and subversion, although an attempt to pass such a law in 2003 was scrapped after a half-million-strong protest.
Tang, a member of the CPPCC Standing Committee, said next week's meeting should leave some issues to be decided locally.
"Hong Kong people could still discuss whether the composition of the nominating committee should be adjusted," said Tang, who lost the 2012 chief executive election to Leung Chun-ying.
The NPC Standing Committee ruled in 2007 that the future nominating committee should be based on the 1,200-strong body that elected previous chief executives. That committee has long been criticised as unrepresentative and undemocratic.
