Be patient! You just have to wait 10 more years.

Beijing rules out universal suffrage in 2012, but not against it for chief executive in 2017

China's top legislature has put an end to 20 years of contention over democratising Hong Kong by giving the green light to universal suffrage for the election of the city's chief executive in 2017 and of the Legislative Council thereafter.

Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen praised the decision as a "most important step for Hong Kong's constitutional development" and said a "clear timetable" had effectively been set for returning all lawmakers by universal suffrage in 2020.

The decision, in response to a report submitted by the chief executive two weeks ago, was passed unanimously by the National People's Congress Standing Committee in Beijing yesterday at the end of a week-long meeting.

It left to Hong Kong the details of electoral arrangements - including "appropriate amendments" for polls in 2012, which the committee's deputy secretary general saw as a key step to achieving universal suffrage. But as expected, the committee said it was too early to change the 50:50 ratio of directly elected and functional constituency seats in Legco.

Pan-democrats expressed regret about the rejection of universal suffrage in 2012 but said they would continue to fight for the early introduction of full democracy. They warned about "fake universal suffrage" being promised given that details of the 2017 and 2020 polls are not settled.

When the Standing Committee met in 2004, it ruled out universal suffrage in 2007 and 2008 because of the city's short history of democratic elections. Yesterday, explaining the rationale for the committee's decision, its deputy secretary general, Qiao Xiaoyang , said that by 2017, "quite a number of elections for the chief executive and the Legislative Council will have been held" and therefore the direct election of the chief executive at that time "is consistent with the [Basic Law] principle of gradual and orderly progress and in keeping with the actual situation in Hong Kong".

Mr Tsang said: "The timetable for attaining universal suffrage has been set. Hong Kong is entering a most important chapter in its constitutional history. We should all try to apply fresh thinking to secure implementation of universal suffrage for the chief executive first, in 2017, to be followed by that for the Legislative Council in 2020."

Mr Qiao also said the earliest date for returning all Legco members by universal suffrage would be 2020.

He had a clear warning for pan-democrats. The decision announced yesterday was that of the highest state legislature and must be carried out, Mr Qiao said.

"If people still stand firm on dual universal suffrage by 2012, it will be difficult to continue a platform of communication ... if their demands are way over the top, people will only question what they really want."

Pan-democrats held a protest march from the Legco building to the Convention and Exhibition Centre - where Mr Qiao briefed local NPC deputies and Beijing advisers about the committee's decision - and to Government House, where Mr Qiao briefed lawmakers.

Speaking after that meeting, new lawmaker Anson Chan Fang On-sang did not think a clear timetable had been set. If universal suffrage reform could not be implemented for the election of the chief executive in 2017, direct election of the legislature would be further delayed, she said.

She also expressed concern that Mr Qiao appeared to have expressed a desire for functional constituencies to be retained, which Mrs Chan said would not be in keeping with international standards. She urged Mr Tsang to make a clear statement on the future of the seats for trades and professions.

In a separate briefing, Li Fei, vice-chairman of the NPC Legislative Affairs Commission, addressed a key concern raised by the pan-democrats - that Beijing might go back on the statement that electing the chief executive by universal suffrage in 2017 was possible. The decision was legally binding, Mr Li said.

Xinhua quoted the NPC Standing Committee chairman Wu Bangguo as saying the decision was "far-reaching for long-term prosperity and stability in Hong Kong".

Executive Councillor Tsang Yok-sing, of the Beijing-friendly Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, said President Hu Jintao had personally taken up the committee's decision, reflecting the importance the central government placed on the issue of universal suffrage in Hong Kong.

SCMP (Dec 30, 2007)