Hong Kong's most senior civil servant, Secretary for Constitutional Affairs Donald Tsang (曾蔭權), began talks with Chinese leaders in Beijing yesterday on the future of democracy in the former British territory, according to local TV and radio reports.
In the first round of three days of talks, Tsang and a taskforce created to look into constitutional reform in Hong Kong, spent three hours with leaders of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO), Beijing's liaison department with the city.
"We had a very substantive and very friendly exchange," Tsang told reporters after the first round of talks, with HKMAO Deputy Director Xu Ze (
"I have told them [the HKMAO] how we have listened to the views of Hong Kong people so far," he added. "Director Xu was agreeable that we have to look at these principles as a matter of priority."
The taskforce was created by Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa (
At the moment, the chief executive is appointed by a 400-strong selection committee handpicked by Communist Party leaders in Beijing.
Tsang, who was joined by Secretary for Justice Elsie Leung (梁愛詩) and Secretary for Constitutional Affairs Stephen Lam (林瑞麟), was also scheduled to meet legal and constitutional affairs experts from the National People's Congress later yesterday.
The three-day talks are hoped to bring to a head weeks of bickering between pro-democracy and pro-government camps here as well as Chinese officials over whether or not universal suffrage will be introduced.
Adding to the conflict is confusion over the interpretation of the Basic Law -- the territory's mini-constitution since 1987 -- on electoral procedure.
It only governs how elections will be held before 2007. After that, the document says, the method of electing the legislature and the chief executive should only be changed if it was felt there was a need for it.
The pro-democracy camp argues that there is a need, while government supporters advocate a slower transition.
A delegation of legal experts from China last month poured cold water on the idea of universal suffrage, saying that full elections could not be anticipated until at least 2030.
The row over constitutional reform is a relatively recent headache for the deeply unpopular Tung.
He has spent the past year battling criticism over his govern-ment's handling of the SARS outbreak and faced unprecedented street protests in July over an unpopular national security bill.
The protests sparked a political crisis, which led to the resignation of senior members of the Cabinet and forced Tung to shelve the so-called Article 23 bill in a humiliating climbdown.
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