CHINA: China's parliament yesterday dashed Hong Kong people's hopes of directly electing their leaders in polls in 2007 and 2008, reinforcing Beijing's full control over constitutional change in the territory.
The decision came after leading members of the National People's Congress (NPC) had voted on reforms for the former British colony, where calls have grown for more voting rights out of growing frustration with the Beijing-backed administration.
The ruling swiftly sparked angry protests in the city. The US said it watered down Hong Kong's autonomy.
Britain voiced disappointment at the NPC's action, which it said seemed inconsistent with the "high degree of autonomy" Beijing had guaranteed to Hong Kong under the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration.
The parliament's decision was announced in Beijing by Mr Tsang Hin-chi, a Hong Kong member of the NPC's standing committee. "There will be no universal suffrage for electing the third chief executive in 2007," Mr Tsang told reporters in comments carried live on Hong Kong television.
"There will be no universal suffrage for all legislators," he said, referring to elections due in 2008. The move is part of a campaign by Beijing since the start of the year to contain Hong Kong's democratic aspirations, which it fears could produce leaders who would challenge its control.
Apparently aware of the furore to be stirred, Beijing quickly sent three senior officials to Hong Kong to sell its decision.
"The result of drastic reform is bound to be violent confrontation. Then there would be no stability, and society would be unable to bear the cost of this political experiment," senior Chinese parliamentarian Mr Qiao Xiaoyang said in Hong Kong.
"Now Hong Kong' s economy is just recovering . . . Drastic political reform would be unwise . . . It might hamper the long-term prosperity of Hong Kong," he told an audience which included top businessmen such as Mr Li Ka-shing, Asia's richest tycoon.
Noting local calls for direct elections, Mr Qiao said no responsible government should be dictated to by public opinion.
"Fight for universal suffrage! Never give up!" a score of legislators chanted after walking out of a seminar given by Mr Qiao at government headquarters. Other demonstrators burned copies of the city's Basic Law or mini-constitution.
The Joint Declaration made much of Beijing's pledge to allow the former colony such autonomy after the 1997 handover under the principle of "one country, two systems".
British Foreign Office minister Mr Bill Rammell said London was "disappointed that the NPC has set limits to constitutional development in Hong Kong that are not required by the Basic Law, especially before the Hong Kong Government has completed its consultation". - (Reuters)