Beijing may not be a political party pooper after all
New battle lines for 2016 Legco election may signal a rethink
So, we have a new political debate on the table: not the 2017 chief executive election, but the 2016 Legislative Council election.
Government sources have revealed that while Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying requested the 2016 election methods remain unchanged in his report to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress - and got Beijing's agreement - the government is now considering certain significant changes through the local legislature.
This would apparently involve redrawing the borders of the five geographical constituencies to create nine constituencies. The number of Legco seats would remain at 70.
It's worth mentioning the timing of this information. Not only did the sources decide to speak out before the second round of public consultation on universal suffrage in 2017, which is expected to begin next month, but their comments also came just a few weeks after a pertinent remark by former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa - a point in danger of being overlooked.
In his first press conference in nine years, Tung declared that the "problematic" political system in Hong Kong had led to tension between the executive and the legislature, with government operations now "paralysed" by an uncooperative Legco. The argument implied that the executive-led political model desired by Beijing and the Hong Kong government was not working.
Tung's eyebrow-raising comment drew suggestions that he could be relaying a hint from Beijing that it may be worth testing how far party politics could go in Hong Kong.
Beijing has never been enthusiastic about party politics in the city. The Chinese constitution stipulates that there is only one ruling party in the country: the Communist Party. So how can another "ruling party" exist in Hong Kong even if it is under "one country, two systems"? Another issue is the length of time it would take - if possible at all - for pro-Beijing forces in Hong Kong to grow strong enough to become a major party, if not a ruling party.