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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: lurqer who wrote (34418)	1/7/2004 2:57:09 PM
From: lurqer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

Suspect this will reinforce the Taiwanese belief that they are different. Beijing Derails Hong Kong Plans for Democratic Reforms Objections from Beijing have derailed plans to set a timetable for democratic reforms here, senior Hong Kong officials said today, as they announced that a task force would begin meeting immediately with various mainland Chinese government departments. Residents of this autonomous Chinese territory have held many rallies in the past six months to demand greater voting rights, with as many as 100,000 taking to the streets on New Year's Day and 500,000 on July 1. But after promising in September to set a timetable by the end of December for pursuing constitutional changes, senior officials said here today that they were unable to set any schedule because of Beijing's concerns. Donald Tsang, the chief secretary and second-ranking government official in Hong Kong, said that President Hu Jintao of China had expressed concerns to Tung Chee-hwa, Hong Kong's chief executive, on Dec. 3, and that Beijing officials had subsequently asked for consultations on "matters of principle and legislative procedure." "There was a clear indication at the end of December it would be better for Hong Kong to hold discussions with the various departments of the central government," Mr. Tsang said. In his annual policy speech to the legislature, Mr. Tung devoted just four paragraphs to constitutional changes. Mr. Tung said Mr. Tsang would form the task force with Elsie Leung, the secretary of justice, and Stephen Lam, the secretary for constitutional affairs. The absence of any timetable for greater voting rights angered democracy advocates, who announced that they would follow up the march on New Year's Day with a smaller candlelight vigil downtown on Thursday evening. With China's ruling Politburo having taken increasingly direct control over Hong Kong policy in recent months after three street demonstrations here in July, the decision not to proceed quickly toward greater voting rights here suggests that the Communist Party remains leery of political changes despite some signs of greater openness since Mr. Hu became president last spring, China experts said. "It certainly raises doubts about the democratic or liberal credentials of the new leadership," said Michael Davis, a professor of law and public affairs at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. While President Hu has not presented himself as a democrat, he has tried to craft a more friendly public image than his predecessors, visiting workers in impoverished areas and tolerating the election of a handful of political independents to neighborhood people's congresses. President Hu called in October for the Communist Party to "ensure that the people can exercise democratic elections." But Mr. Tung said that when he recently visited Beijing, President Hu "pointed out to me the serious concern and principled stance of the Central People's Government toward the development of Hong Kong's political structure." The latest delay in progress toward democracy here is likely to hurt pro-government political parties in the next legislative elections, to be held in early September. Voters in Taiwan, who will choose their next president on March 20, are also likely to view the setback here as another reason not to support closer relations with China, which has wanted Taiwan to rejoin the mainland politically under much the same "One country, two systems" approach it has used in Hong Kong. Protesters have been calling for Mr. Tung's successor to be chosen in 2007 through universal suffrage, and not by the same 800-member committee of Beijing loyalists here who selected Mr. Tung. Democracy activists also want all members of the legislature to be elected democratically in 2008 elections, instead of having half the legislature chosen by industry leaders and prominent professionals, who tend to favor Beijing as well. Hong Kong's Basic Law, a mini-constitution drafted for the territory by China and Britain before Britain's handover of the territory to China in 1997, calls for chief executives after 2007 to be chosen by more democratic means, but is vague on whether this would include the chief executive selected in 2007 to serve until 2012. Mr. Tsang pointed out that the government here always planned to consult with Beijing on constitutional changes, and would have included this in a timetable that it drafted but never issued. The task force and Beijing want to work as quickly as possible to reach consensus, and will definitely do so by 2007, Mr. Tsang said. nytimes.com lurqer