Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) told Hong Kong’s leader the nation supports the territory’s democratic development “within the law,” Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying (梁振英) said, as pro-democracy demonstrations entered a seventh week.
The Occupy Central protests have impacted Hong Kong’s rule of law, while also reflecting the different views on electoral reforms, Leung said yesterday while meeting Xi in Beijing. Xi reiterated that the nation “unwaveringly” supports Hong Kong’s democratic development in accordance with the law.
Protesters took to the streets on Sept. 26, demanding China reverse its decision that candidates for the 2017 Hong Kong leadership election be approved by a committee. While the poll would be the first time the territory’s voters could choose the chief executive, demonstrators say the vetting policy guarantees the winner would be Beijing-friendly and not necessarily look after the best interests of Hong Kongers.
“Occupy Central has impacted Hong Kong’s rule of law and severely affected social order,” Leung said. “But I am confident that under the support of all sectors in Hong Kong, the special administrative government can handle the Occupy Central and related events by its own ability and laws.”
Hong Kong was returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. Article 45 of the Basic Law specifies how the chief executive should be selected, with a goal that it should be by “universal suffrage upon nomination by a broadly representative nominating committee.”
Protesters, in an open letter last week, asked former Hong Kong former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa (董建華) to arrange a meeting with Chinese officials after shelving a plan to take their complaints directly to Beijing during a summit attended by world leaders including US President Barack Obama.
Tung told student pro-democracy protesters that their request does not help and that they should end their demonstrations.
“The content of the letter only repeats their viewpoints and stance, and offers no help in solving the current impasse,” Tung said in an e-mailed statement on Saturday night, without saying whether he would try to arrange meetings. “The central government fully grasps the opinions from different sectors in Hong Kong. The National People’s Congress Standing Committee will not change its Aug. 31 decision.”
The Hong Kong Federation of Students yesterday urged Tung to give a clear answer as it hopes talks with China’s central government will help resolve the impasse.
“Simply asking people to retreat from protest sites will not solve the political dispute,” the students said in a statement sent via WhatsApp. “The Federation of Students repeated viewpoints only because the government has never responded to Hong Kong people’s demands for true universal suffrage.”
Tung, who was the city’s first chief executive, stepped down in 2005, less than two years after half a million people took to the streets to march against a security bill that threatened to stifle freedoms. Tung is now vice chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the nation’s top advisory body.
Hong Kong’s government signaled plans to clear the protests, which have dwindled to hundreds of participants from an estimate of 200,000 at their peak, according to the Apple Daily. Hong Kong Chief Secretary Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥), the territory’s No. 2 official, told police officers on Friday that protest clearance is necessary and is in the preparation stage, the Chinese-language paper reported, without identifying where it got the information.
The police’s public relations department did not immediately comment on the report when contacted by telephone yesterday. Lam’s office has not yet responded to e-mailed questions.
Student leaders have previously appealed to politicians to help arrange meetings with China, with little success. The protesters had shelved plans to send representatives to Beijing during the APEC forum, which takes place this week in the Chinese capital. Any such trips would happen after APEC meetings, the students have said.
The federation would send another open letter to Rita Fan (范徐麗泰), Hong Kong’s deputy to China’s National People’s Congress, for aid on arranging meetings with officials in Beijing, Ming Pao reported yesterday, citing the group’s secretary-general, Alex Chow (周永康).
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