News: Articles on the Protests and Timetable

Beijing (AsiaNews/SCMP) – China’s premier, Wen Jiabao, has said he
is “very concerned’ about the situation in Hong Kong and its political
development. Wen is in Paris as part of an official tour of European
capitals. He made his statement on Monday, the day after the march for
universal suffrage drew 250,000 people on the streets to call for
democracy in the territory. The protest was completely ignored by all
the Chinese media.

“I sincerely hope the people of Hong Kong can adhere to the Basic
Law [Hong Kong’s mini-constitution – ndr] and the requirements set out
by the NPC Standing Committee,” he told journalists. “In this way, the
principle of gradual progress may be adopted to promote Hong Kong’s
democratic political development, to be conducive to the prosperity and
stability of Hong Kong as well as the eventual attainment of universal
suffrage."

Sunday’s demonstration did not feature at all in Chinese national
media. The main story in the Hong Kong section of the website of
Xinhua, the official press agency, was about local coral reefs. The
same section of the China News Service was dominated by news items
describing security arrangements in the territory in the lead-up to a
meeting of the World Trade Organisation slated for next week. Sina and
Sohu, the largest Chinese portal websites, did not publish anything
about the former colony. More

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Thousands March for Democracy in Hong Kong
David Kootnikoff (kaspian

Organizers of the event put the numbers at 250,000, a larger than
expected turn out. It was half the number that demonstrated in the 2003 display
of "people power" that marked a dramatic downturn in the fortunes of
then Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, who resigned earlier this year.

Independent analyst Robert Chung of the Public Opinion Programme
put the number at 81,000 to 98,000, while the Civil Human Rights Front
estimated 250,000. However, the police have offered various crowd
estimates ranging from a low of 40,000 to the current 63,000 at the
time of this writing, causing some to question their impartiality.

Speaking last week from Britain, Hong Kong Legislative member and democratic supporter Ronnie Tong stated that 50,000 demonstrators would be enough to send a strong message to Beijing.

"This is make-or-break time," said founding chairman of the Democratic Party and legislative member Martin Lee, during the march. Whole article

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Tsang advisers rule out change

Despite
mounting pressure from Washington for a timetable for full democracy in
Hong Kong, key advisers to Chief Executive Donald Tsang defended the
government’s beleaguered reform proposal and ruled out making any
concessions in response to the large turnout for Sunday’s protest march.

Carrie Chan

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Despite
mounting pressure from Washington for a timetable for full democracy in
Hong Kong, key advisers to Chief Executive Donald Tsang defended the
government’s beleaguered reform proposal and ruled out making any
concessions in response to the large turnout for Sunday’s protest march.

"We
believe that it’s important to achieve universal suffrage in Hong Kong
as soon as possible, that the people of Hong Kong are ready for
democracy, and that the sooner that a timetable for achieving universal
suffrage is established, the better," deputy US State Department
spokesman Adam Ereli said in an Agence France-Presse report.

"And
it’s certainly, I think, the spirit in which the demonstrations took
place," he said, referring to the mass street protests Sunday demanding
full democracy.

Former secretary for justice Elsie Leung and
Executive Council Convenor Leung Chun-ying denied categorically that
major revisions to the reform proposal would be made.

Elsie
Leung, now an adviser to the Taskforce on Political Reform, said she
doubted Beijing would institute changes or invite democratic lawmakers
to Beijing for a direct dialogue.

She dismissed any prospect
for a timetable on universal suffrage for the chief executive election
in 2017, despite a report in the Chinese press that Beijing was
considering the idea.

" I have not heard of any such move by
Beijing," she said. "I do not believe that Beijing wants to make such
an offer to win them [pro-democracy lawmakers] over."

Executive
Councillor Leung Chun- ying also reiterated his belief that the
government had no plans for a timetable or other concessions.

Following
an Executive Council meeting, Jasper Tsang, former chairman of the
Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, said
the threat from pro-democracy legislators to vote down the government’s
reform package would not derail a vote December 21.

Also Tuesday,
Secretary for Constitutional Affairs Stephen Lam formally presented to
Legco the motions to amend the Basic Law in line with the government’s
reform proposals, setting in motion the countdown to a vote.

The
mainland response to the US remarks was swift, with a Foreign Ministry
spokesman telling Washington to stay out of Hong Kong business. "Hong
Kong affairs are China’s domestic affairs, and do not allow for any
foreign intervention," spokesman Qin Gang said at a news conference. More

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Hong Kong’s protest
Wednesday, December  7, 2005
Globe and Mail NY

China’s Communist rulers must be growing increasingly frustrated
with Hong Kong. When they took control of the former British Crown
colony in 1997, they expected residents to be satisfied with Beijing’s
hands-off approach to their wide-open economy and freewheeling business
ways. Let the people keep making, investing and spending money without
restraint, the thinking went, and they won’t worry about the lack of
such basic democratic rights as universal suffrage or accountable
government. Yet it hasn’t turned out that way. No matter how hard they
try, the autocrats in Beijing can’t seem to squelch the aspirations of
people yearning for political, as well as economic, freedom.

That’s because the two go hand in hand. China’s closed political
system depends on restriction of information and repression for
survival. This is completely antithetical to the needs of a wide-open
economy run on capitalist grounds. With greater prosperity, the demand
only grows for a direct say in how the community is governed.

On Sunday, up to a quarter of a million people took to the main
streets of Hong Kong to protest against the deliberately glacial pace
of political reforms decreed by chief executive Donald Tsang and his
masters in Beijing. The sheer size of the demonstration shocked Chinese
leaders, who had counted on a booming economy and the popular appeal of
Mr. Tsang to keep residents in line….

On Sunday night, Mr. Tsang told reporters that he wanted to see
democracy in Hong Kong in his lifetime. But he must be expecting to
live a very long life, because he knows Beijing has no intention of
allowing full democracy to take root in the territory. Why? Because of
the legitimate fear that it would soon ignite a wave of mass protests
within China, where the fearful dictators already face increased
agitation for more political rights.

Mr. Tsang is proposing minimal reforms that would let 1,600 people
vote for the chief executive in the next scheduled election in 2007,
double the current number. The legislature would also be increased, but
the public would still only get to vote for slightly more half the
legislators. Expect the mass protests to continue. Whole Article

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Democracy in My Lifetime

By KIN-MING LIU
December 7, 2005

On Sunday, Hong Kong had its third huge demonstration in two years.
Organizers claimed the turnout was 250,000, while the police said it
was 63,000. The key lies not in the exact numbers but the fact that it
was way beyond everyone’s expectation.

After the previous two marches, in which roughly 500,000 people
participated on July 1 in 2003 and 2004, Beijing pretended that Hong
Kong people were marching for something other than democracy. But now,
all the excuses are gone. Hong Kong’s economy is expected to grow for
7% this year; unemployment is at 5.3%, a four-year low; highly
unpopular chief executive Tung Chee-hwa was replaced by a more
competent Donald Tsang; and SARS has not resurfaced.

This time, marchers have one thing in mind this time: we want
democracy, and sooner rather than later. The crux of the matter is:
when can Hong Kong people elect their chief executive and the whole
legislature by "universal suffrage," which is stated in the Basic Law,
Hong Kong’s constitution drafted by Beijing, as the "ultimate aim?"
Beijing basically says "Not now. Later. Shut up." Hong Kong people
respond, "Give us a timetable then. We have waited long enough." For 20
years indeed.

A drop of democracy was first introduced into the Legislative
Council in 1985 by the British, when a few seats elected by the
functional constituencies were returned in the otherwise
totally-appointed body. Over the years, the numbers of directly elected
seats have been increasing while the indirectly elected and the
appointed ones have been dropping, from 18 vs. 42 in 1991, 20 vs. 40 in
1995, 24 vs. 36 in 2000, to 30 vs. 30 in 2004. The next election, to be
held in 2007, could have been the earliest possible time for the whole
60-seat body to be elected democratically, which is, again, stated in
the Basic Law.

What the Hong Kong government proposes for 2007 instead, under
strict "guidance" by Beijing, is to increase the numbers of
democratically elected seats to 35 from 30 while the
undemocratically-selected seats would not be decreased as the trend has
been going, but increased to 35 from 30 as well. The chief executive,
currently selected by a 800-member committee, would be returned by
1,600 people in 2008. Who can blame the people of Hong Kong for
rejecting such a window-dressing plan, which is scheduled for a vote in
the legislature on December 21?

Beijing, sensing that the proposal won’t be able to gain the
two-third majority support in the chamber that is required, was
desperate to try to show a more conciliatory face before the march.
First, two astronauts from China’s second manned spaceflight, who are
considered national heroes, were dispatched to Hong Kong last week to
boost nationalism. Second, many pro-democracy lawmakers were invited to
meet a senior official in Shenzhen, a city north of Hong Kong, two days
before the demonstration. Third, chief executive Tsang unprecedentedly
went live on television to appeal for support from the people.…

I’m afraid recent records don’t offer much hope for Beijing to give
an inch to the growing thirst for democracy in Hong Kong. After the
first march in July 2003, the then Tung administration was forced to
shelve a piece of repressive anti-subversion legislation. That was the
very first time for the brutal Chinese Communist Party to have backed
down to a peaceful demonstration in its history (remember what happened
in Tiananmen Square in 1989?). Beijing returned the favor by vetoing
universal suffrage for Hong Kong in April 2004. After the second march
in July 2004, a protest against Beijing’s veto, Beijing in April 2005
handed down another unpopular verdict regarding the length of Tsang’s
term as the chief executive. Whole Article

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