Li Fei, deputy general-secretary of the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) and chairman of the HKSAR Basic Law Committee of the NPCSC, emphasized during his recent Hong Kong visit that realizing the Chief Executive (CE) election by universal suffrage is one of the goals of Hong Kong's democratic development and, in order to handle universal suffrage well, people need to completely understand the central government's fundamental stand on the issue of Hong Kong's democratic development and how it has been implemented so far.

Indeed, only when we have learned the whole story of Hong Kong's democratic development can we fully appreciate and cherish all the thoughts and dedication to Hong Kong's prosperity and stability that the central authorities have put into the Basic Law as the ultimate safeguard. And only with this complete knowledge can we fully and correctly understand the deeper connotations and legislative intent of the Basic Law concerning the issue of CE election by universal suffrage. Otherwise, it is impossible to achieve the goal.

Li pointed out that Britain maintained its colonial rule over Hong Kong for more than 100 years and had not introduced any democratic practice until it signed the Joint Declaration with Beijing in 1984, when all legislative councillors were either government officials or appointed by the governor. It was against this historical backdrop that the central authorities brought up the issue of establishing a democratic system in Hong Kong while drawing up fundamental policies on the city back in the early 1980s and gradually built up the basic stand on Hong Kong's post-handover democratic development.

Had China not resumed sovereignty over Hong Kong, democracy would not have been raised as an issue; without establishing local permanent residents' status as the mainstay of Hong Kong society or empowering the SAR with unprecedented autonomy, there would have been no ground for democracy; and without putting in the Basic Law, the articles and annexes concerning Hong Kong's political system, including the methods of selecting the CE and the Legislative Council (LegCo), there would have been no constitutional basis for democracy in the HKSAR.

Zhang Xiaoming, director of the Central People's Government Liaison Office in the HKSAR, reiterated at a luncheon with LegCo members earlier this year that the central government's sincerity in implementing universal suffrage in Hong Kong is beyond any doubt, or it would not have been written in the Basic Law to begin with, because it is not mentioned in the Sino-British Joint Declaration on Hong Kong. Without such a statutory commitment by the central government, the NPCSC would not have added the clause in the Basic Law in late 2007 that CE election by universal suffrage can be implemented in 2017 and LegCo election by universal suffrage in 2020 at the earliest.

Li also said that all local residents, even those most critical of Hong Kong's democratic development, are beneficiaries of the political system. Since the handover, every CE and legislative councillor has been elected by voters directly or indirectly. Can any LegCo member say he or she is not a beneficiary of Hong Kong's democratic system? I don't think so. But some of them give people the impression that they hate it one way or another by routinely attacking it left and right. They are the perfect example of biting the hand that feeds them.

Simply put, the nominating committee per the Basic Law is designed to ensure the bottom line is never crossed, that the CE's office will never be occupied by someone who does not love the country or Hong Kong and is against the central government. As the Basic Law dictates, the nominating committee is an institution and, therefore, ticks the "institutional nomination" box. And it follows "democratic procedures" by producing collective decisions according to the fundamental democratic principle that minority opinion is subordinate to majority will.

As Li explained, it is written in the Basic Law that CE election by universal suffrage will be implemented in Hong Kong, as early as 2017, and it is impossible to exclude anyone who fully meets the legal requirements for the right to stand in elections. However, the Basic Law also stipulates that the CE of the HKSAR shall be accountable to the central government as well as the HKSAR, which is simply impossible if the CE election winner does not love the country or Hong Kong and is determined to defy the Central People's Government. If someone like that is elected, the central authorities will have no choice but to refuse to appoint that person as CE of the HKSAR, with terrible repercussions for sure. It is an extremely tough dilemma that must be solved no matter what and has been with the creation of the CE election nominating committee. This committee is by far the only legitimate and effective way to keep the CE office away from those who do not love the country or Hong Kong and are against the central government.

The author is a Hong Kong member of the CPPCC and founding chairman of Hong Kong Youth Exchange Promotion United Association. This is an excerpted translation of his article published in Wen Wei Po on Nov 27.

(HK Edition 12/02/2013 page9)