Election must abide by rule of law

Also, letting the Nominating Committee nominate the chief executive candidates is a principle that we have to adhere to in order to guarantee Hong Kong is run by people who love the country and love Hong Kong, and it will avoid the social disruption that would be caused by the so-called party nomination advanced by Hong Kong pan-democracy group according to their vague international standard. At present, there is a stark political division in Hong Kong, namely the pro-central government and anti-central government camps. The so-called party nomination put forward by the anti-central government camp will only turn the universal suffrage into competition between pro-central government forces and the anti-central government forces, which will severely undermine the cause of "One Country, Two Systems".

Letting the Nominating Committee nominate the candidates for the chief executive election will avoid extremists from becoming candidates. The so-called civil nomination advocated by the Hong Kong pan-democracy group would possibly harm national security interests. Under the circumstance that the Legislative Council fails to live up to the central government's expectation of legislation that guarantees national security, this way of nomination will probably result in a candidate that goes against the central government. How can the central government appoint such a candidate? This will be the so-called constitutional crisis.

The Nominating Committee mechanism will prevent Hong Kong from stepping toward populism. A potential defect of democratic politics is the possibility of populism, which can easily lead to mob rule. The Nominating Committee mechanism shows institutional rationality, which stems from the diversity of the committee. Hong Kong is a region that has developed business and financial sectors but lacks resources. We have to consider the various interests of the business and financial sectors if we want to maintain the long-term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong. Hence, populism in the name of democracy and excessive welfare will only harm Hong Kong society.

Based on the above-mentioned reasons, the Nominating Committee mechanism is the most appropriate procedure for Hong Kong, which although a special region with a high degree of autonomy, is still under the jurisdiction of China. The political relationship between the central authorities and Hong Kong determines that the central authorities have indubitable dominance over the development of Hong Kong's constitutional system. However, some people in Hong Kong do not want to face this political relationship, which is the root cause of the emerging problems in universal suffrage.

The author is a professor of Shenzhen University and member of Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies.