Democracy can't be rushed: Li

Warning that a radical shift to full democracy could destabilize Hong Kong, Asia's richest tycoon said electoral changes must be gradual to avert problems in the financial hub.

"It's best for the process of political reforms to be peaceful," billionaire Li Ka-shing (李嘉誠) said in remarks carried by two pro-Beijing newspapers yesterday. "Hong Kong people have the right to express their opinions, but I hope everybody is truly trying to do Hong Kong some good."

Many people are clamoring for full democracy in this former British colony that returned to China in July 1997. They are demanding the direct election of their leader by 2007 and all lawmakers by 2008, but Beijing insists that any change must go slowly.

Li holds enormous sway in Hong Kong. He urged Hong Kong people not to "ruin" the territory's prosperity by rushing toward full democracy, according to the remarks published prominently in the Wen Wei Po and Ta Kung Pao newspapers.

"Hong Kong can't take it," ran Ta Kung Pao's front-page headline in bold, red letters.

Asked what would happen if Hong Kong went ahead with the implementation of direct elections in 2007 and 2008, Li said: "We don't know what results it would bring, but it's something we can't afford."

Ordinary citizens now have no say in picking their political leader, although they will choose 30 of the 60 lawmakers in September, up from just 24 four years ago. The Beijing and Hong Kong governments are worried about ending up with a legislature that won't back Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa's (董建華) initiatives -- a dilemma they have not yet faced.

China's top legislative committee issued a ruling this month that any political reforms would require advance approval by Beijing.

Tung, chosen by an elite 800-person committee loyal to Beijing, angered the public on Thursday by sending a recommendation to the central government on the matter without reflecting on the people's aspirations for democracy.

He suggested in his report that Hong Kong's electoral systems should be reformed before his current term expires, but spelled out nine guidelines that his opponents claim effectively kill any hopes for quick democracy.

A top mainland legal expert said Beijing might dictate more rules that Hong Kong must follow on political reforms when it deliberates on Tung's report, the South China Morning Post reported.

"The central government has the power to decide the development of Hong Kong's political system," Wang Zhenmin (王振民), the deputy dean of Tsinghua University's law school, was quoted as saying in Macau.