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Tsang denies conspiracy theory

Hong Kong's new leader insisted yesterday that the territory's abrupt leadership change wasn't part of a Chinese conspiracy, and pledged that the global business center was moving toward greater democracy and wouldn't backtrack.

"There is no question of going back," Donald Tsang (曾蔭權) said in his first briefing with foreign reporters since taking office on Saturday as acting chief executive. "The next stage will be more democratic than it is now."

Tsang replaced the unpopular Tung Chee-hwa (董建華), who had led the former British colony since it returned to Chinese rule in 1997. Tung quit, citing failing health, but many believe Beijing's Communist leaders sacked him because they wanted to install someone more to their liking.

But Tsang -- who serves until a new leader is elected on July 10 -- said the speculation was untrue.

"There is absolutely no conspiracy in this," he said.

One of the factors fueling the conspiracy theories was the government's awkward flip-flop on its reading of term limit laws. Last year, the government's legal experts said that if a chief executive quits, the law says that the elected successor would serve a full five-year term.

But after it became clear that Tung was leaving early, officials and legal experts in China began saying that Tung's elected successor would only finish Tung's term -- about two years -- and another election would be held in 2007 as scheduled.

Hong Kong officials quickly changed their minds and supported Beijing's legal interpretation.

Pro-democracy groups accused the government of caving in to Beijing and stomping on Hong Kong's cherished rule of law -- one the territory's biggest sources of pride. A popular theory is that Beijing favors the two-year option because it gives the Communist leadership a chance to see how loyal the leader will be. If he's sufficiently obedient to China, he'll get another five years.

Tsang acknowledged that the government did a U-turn on the law.

"Regrettably, our previous understanding was wrong," he said.

He added that officials changed their reading of the law after doing more research and consulting more experts in Hong Kong and mainland China. He said that the two-year option was fairer because the government would stick to its promise of holding the 2007 election.

Tsang also noted that the 800-member election committee that picks the chief executive finishes its term on July 13. He said it would be wrong to let the current committee elect a leader to a five-year term that would extend past the committee's authority.

"That to me is the nut of the legal argument," said Tsang, who declined to say whether he would seek election.

He added that a task force is researching ways to expand Hong Kong's democracy, and one approach would be to enlarge the 800-member election committee, which is dominated by people partial to Beijing. The political reforms were expected to be made before the 2007 vote, so he said canceling the election would be a mistake.

"An opportunity for us to go more democratic would be eliminated ... That's not desirable," he said.
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