China's parliament on Monday dashed the hopes of Hong Kong people to elect directly their leaders in polls in 2007 and 2008, reinforcing Beijing's full control over democratic progress in the territory.
The decision came after China's top members of parliament voted on political reforms for the former British colony, where calls have mounted for more voting rights because of growing frustration with the China-backed administration.
"There will be no universal suffrage for electing the third Chief Executive in 2007," Tsang Hin-chi, a Hong Kong member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), or parliament, told reporters in Beijing.
"There will be no universal suffrage for all legislators," he said, referring to elections due in 2008. His comments were carried live on Hong Kong's Cable Television.
The move is part of a campaign by Beijing since the start of the year to contain Hong Kong's democratic aspirations that it fears could produce leaders who will challenge its control.
Hong Kong's unpopular leader, Tung Chee-hwa, called for calm.
"Some people are worried about the decision. I hope they'll be rational and calm, and let's work hard together to seek a consensus on constitutional reforms," he said.
Democracy advocates accused Beijing of reneging on a promise of a high degree of autonomy under a "one country, two systems" principle that it gave Hong Kong when it took the territory back from Britain in 1997.
"This has killed the 'one country two systems' principle and our high degree of autonomy. We have to tell the world that we don't accept Beijing running Hong Kong," said Lee Cheuk-yan, a prominent pro-democracy lawmaker and workers rights champion.
Others called on voters to back the democracy camp in legislative elections in September, when Beijing fears opposition politicians could win a majority.
The People's Daily, mouthpiece of China's Communist Party, said in a commentary the decision by parliament would be "conducive to cooling recent disputes over the issue of development of Hong Kong society's political system".
"On the issue of development of Hong Kong's political system, any action deviating from tracks of the Basic Law will not be allowed," the commentary said.
"Its fundamental objective is to maintain Hong Kong's long-term prosperity and stability as well as overall rights and good fortune of Hong Kong residents."
Half of Hong Kong's Legislative Council is returned via direct election, while the other half is selected by largely pro-Beijing professional and business groups.
"If Hong Kong people do not accept such high-handedness, they must stand out and express their anger on July 1," said pro-democracy lawmaker Albert Chan, referring to an anti-Beijing protest on that date last year attended by half a million people.
China worries democratic reform in Hong Kong could stir democratic dreams on the mainland.
Alarmed by residents' demands to elect their leaders by as soon as 2007, as is possible under the city's constitution, Beijing revised that framework this month to require the territory to obtain Beijing's approval before it can even initiate any electoral reforms.
By calling the shots now, Beijing wants to remove the issue of political change from the agenda of opposition politicians in the September elections.
Political analysts said this will only fuel the controversy.
Comments
Comments are closed.