DEMOCRACY BECOMING MORE SILENT IN HONG KONG
Beijing Tightening Its Fist... Reform Will Have to Wait

I guess democracy in China will take a little longer, and the tide of influence probably will not come from Hong Kong now.

China Rules Out Hong Kong 2007 Election

By MIN LEE
The Associated Press
April 26, 2004

HONG KONG (AP) - China's most powerful legislative committee ruled Monday that Hong Kong will not have direct elections for its next leader in 2007, crushing hopes in the Chinese territory for a quick move toward full democracy.

Under the ruling, the territory will be allowed to make changes to its electoral methods but only gradually, said Tsang Hin-chi, a Hong Kong delegate to the Chinese National People's Congress Standing Committee.

The decision, confirmed later by China's Xinhua News Agency, ruled out what many Hong Kong people have been demanding: the right to democratically elect a successor to the unpopular Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa in 2007 and all lawmakers in 2008.

Tung is seen as one of the biggest impediments to Hong Kong's achieving democracy. The former shipping tycoon was appointed to his position by an 800-member committee that tends to side with Beijing.

In remarks carried on Hong Kong television, Tsang said the mainland's Standing Committee voted almost unanimously to approve its latest guidelines for Hong Kong democracy, with 156 votes backing the ruling and one abstention.

Tsang said the Chinese lawmakers had acted "according to Hong Kong's actual situation'' and that they had listened to Hong Kong public opinion.

Hong Kong lawmaker Fred Li accused Beijing of "dictating Hong Kong policy'' without regard to public opinion. Li said the decision violated Beijing's promise to give Hong Kong a great deal of autonomy when it was returned from Britain to China in 1997.

Ordinary Hong Kong residents now have no say in choosing their leader and they pick only some lawmakers, although Hong Kong's mini-constitution, the Basic Law, holds out the possibility of direct elections of the leader in 2007 and all lawmakers in 2008. The Basic Law sets out full democracy as an eventual goal but sets no timetable.

"We will not give up the fight for democracy,'' Yeung Sum, the leader of Hong Kong's opposition Democratic Party, said at a news conference.

Tung said he realizes Beijing's decision will upset many of Hong Kong's 6.8 million people, but he urged them to "be calm and rational.''

Full democracy remains Hong Kong's goal, Tung insisted, but he would not offer any timetable.

Xinhua said Hong Kong's electoral methods could be changed in time for the 2007 and 2008 elections, although direct elections have been ruled out.

The Standing Committee shocked Hong Kong earlier this month by issuing a binding ruling that any electoral reforms must be approved in advance by Beijing. Hong Kong's unpopular leader Tung then proposed a set of nine guidelines that any reforms should meet, including keeping China's views in mind.

While Hong Kong residents will directly elect 30 of 60 lawmakers in the September elections - up from 24 last time - the other 30 will be chosen by elite voters from special interest groups, such as business leaders, doctors and bankers.