Hong Kong's relations with Beijing 'will suffer if political reform is vetoed': chief secretary

Relations between Beijing and Hong Kong will get frostier if a political reform package is vetoed by lawmakers this summer, Chief Secretary Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor warned yesterday.

Speaking a day after the launch of a second round of consultation on models for the 2017 chief executive election - due to be the first held under universal suffrage - Lam said a Legislative Council veto would also deepen discontent in the city and make governance harder.

Meanwhile, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and former leader Tung Chee-hwa also rallied support for reform.

Pan-democrats have vowed to deny the reforms a two-thirds majority in Legco if the government sticks to a framework set by Beijing. Under the framework the public would choose between two or three candidates nominated by a 1,200-strong committee likely to be dominated by pro-establishment figures. Some academics have suggested that the committee - made up of four sectors representing industries, professions and social groups, as well as lawmakers and delegates to the national parliament and advisory body - could be made more democratic to help the reforms pass.

But Lam said the government risked alienating supporters in Legco if it stripped seats from some subsectors and defended the decision to focus on the committee's procedures instead.

"When a subsector is resisting it relentlessly, and we insist on making big adjustments … can you get their votes in Legco?" Lam asked.

There were suggestions last year that new subsectors could be formed to represent women and young people. The much-maligned agriculture and fisheries sector, which has 60 seats despite its small economic impact, was tipped to lose out.