Chinese scholars praise NPC ruling... Hong Kong academics disagree

While legal scholars in Beijing may argue that the framework laid down for Hong Kong's constitutional future is reasonable, academics in Hong Kong feel otherwise, with one calling it a "very bad decision".

In Beijing, a former official in charge of Hong Kong affairs, Chen Zuoer, and four legal academics strove to explain to reporters why a nominating committee with only 1,200 members was a good idea.

Candidates needed to get the support of more than half the members because Hong Kong was a diversified society, said Jiang Shigong, deputy director of Peking University's Centre for Hong Kong and Macau Studies.

"The chief executive has to coordinate different sectors and different political interests of Hong Kong society … He also has to coordinate the relationship between Hong Kong and the central government, and has to accommodate differences while seeking consensus."

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The specification of up to three candidates was to ensure that the election was "competitive" enough, Jiang said, adding that the winner might only get about 10 per cent of the vote if there were five or six candidates.

Rao Geping, a Basic Law Committee member and a professor at the same university, said rejecting the National People's Congress Standing Committee decision would seriously hinder Hong Kong's path to democracy.