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European Parliament - China

A call for a resolution in favor of democracy
and the introduction of universal suffrage
in Hong Kong

On the eve of the 17th Chinese Communist Party Congress and the next round of the EU-China Dialogue, Martin Lee, a member of the Legislative Council in Hong Kong, has called upon members of the European Parliament in Brussels to adopt a resolution supporting the development of democracy in Hong Kong and the introduction of universal suffrage as promised in 1997 by the Basic Law, Hong Kong's constitutional document.

Hong Kong, An Impeded Democracy

"Ten years after the handover of Hong Kong, it can be said that Beijing has managed to control the political institutions of Hong Kong despite the pledges to respect its autonomy within the concept of 'One China - Two Systems' but it has not conquered the hearts of the people," Martin Lee said.

The Basic Law adopted in 1997 provides that democracy will develop progressively but that the ultimate aim after ten years will be the introduction of the universal suffrage for the election of the members of the Legislative Council and the Chief Executive. "In 1997, all political parties agreed on that objective and nobody was then saying that it would be too early or that the population was not ready; however, year after year, Beijing managed to erode that consensus and to finally quash it," Martin Lee explained.

Beijing is represented in Hong Kong by a Central Government Liaison Office that actively orchestrates the manipulation of the elections behind the scenes in favor of its candidates.

"Pro-Beijing political parties and big businesses, represented in the Chief Executive Election Committee [1], now say it is too early to implement universal suffrage but a recent poll revealed that 60% of the population Hong Kong wants universal suffrage," Martin Lee added.

Several mass demonstrations in favor universal suffrage took place towards the end of 2003 and on 1 July 2004. On 4 December 2005, a demonstration was organized by the Civil Human Rights Front and pro-democracy lawmakers to demand a timetable for universal suffrage to be included in political reform proposals for the 2007 and 2008 elections for the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council respectively. The turnout was reported to be 63,000 by the police, and at least 250,000 by the organizers. The proposals would have doubled the size of the election committee (from 800 members to 1,600) and would have added ten seats to the Legislative Council (5 geographic and 5 functional seats for district councilors).

December 2007 Legislative Council By-Election

For the December election, Beijing's candidate is former chief security chief Regina Yip Lau Suk-yee. She is supported by the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB). In 2003, she was advocating the anti-subversion Article 23 Bill that was a direct attack against freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. That law was creating the necessary condition to 'legally' send to jail, without representation, anyone who would have worked towards a democratic Hong Kong. Half a million people were immediately on the streets of Hong Kong to protest against the bill.

Mrs. Anson Chan Fang On-sang, former Chief Secretary, is the candidate of the pan-democratic camp and various pro-democracy political forces. Mrs. Chan is said to be supported by media magnate Jimmy Lai Chee-ying   and tycoon Richard Li Tzarkai. However, she still needs to facilitate a merge of the Democratic Party and Civic Party to consolidate a strong democratic political force that will pave the way for a future election under universal suffrage.

The Legislative Council

The Legislative Council (LegCo) is the unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. It numbers 60 members. The term of office of a legislator is four years, except for the first term from 1998 to 2000 which was set at two years (Article 69, Basic Law).

Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai was the first President of the Legislative Council after the transfer of sovereignty and she is still in that post. Born in Shanghai, she stands as an Independent candidate for the geographical constituency of Hong Kong Island.

In the 2000 election, 24 members were directly elected, 6 elected from an 800-member electoral college called the Election Committee of Hong Kong, and 30 elected from functional constituencies [2].

In the 2004 elections, 30 members were directly elected by universal suffrage from geographical constituencies [3] (GC) and 30 were elected from functional constituencies.

The method of election after 2007 has not been specified. The Basic Law states that the ultimate aim is the election of all the LegCo members by universal suffrage (Article 68 of the Basic Law of Hong Kong).

Under the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, which came into effect on the day of the handover to China (1 st July 1997), the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) is vested with legislative power and the Legislative Council is the legislature of the Region.

Articles 66 to 79 of the Basic Law provide for the formation, powers and functions of the Legislative Council. The main functions of the Legislative Council are to enact laws; examine and approve budgets, taxation and public expenditure; and monitor the work of the Government. The Legislative Council of the HKSAR is also given the power to endorse the appointment and removal of the judges of the Court of Final Appeal and the Chief Judge of the High Court, as well as the power to impeach the Chief Executive.

Articles 49 and 50 of the Basic Law state that if the Chief Executive (the head of the territory and of the government) considers that a bill passed by the Legislative Council is not compatible with the overall interests of the Region and returns it to the Legislative Council for reconsideration, and if the original bill is passed by the Legislative Council again by not less than a two-thirds majority of all the Members, the Chief Executive must sign and promulgate it within one month, or may dissolve the Legislative Council in accordance with Article 50 of the Basic Law. But if the original bill is passed by the new Legislative Council by not less than a two-thirds majority of all the Members, the Chief Executive must sign and promulgate it, or resign. The new powers of the Legislative Council are to ensure that there are adequate checks and balances between the executive authorities and the legislature of the Region.

Private members' bills and motions have to be passed by majorities in both chambers of the legislature - members returned from geographical constituencies and election committee, and members returned from functional constituencies. This arrangement, however, is not necessary for government bills, with only a simple majority required to secure passage. Meanwhile, amendments to the Basic Law require a 2/3 vote in LegCo for passage, but without a specific requirement in each chamber. After passing LegCo, the amendment must be approved by a supermajority of the same size among Hong Kong's delegates to the National People's Congress [4], and also the approval of the Chief Executive (since veto power is given to him).(Article 159, Basic Law)

Election of the Chief Executive

The Chief Executive is selected by the Chief Executive Election Committee composed of 800 members for a 5-year term. This Committee is evenly composed of four major segments of Hong Kong society:

  • The industrial, commercial and financial sectors
  • The professions
  • Labour, social services, religious and other sectors
  • Members of the Legislative Council, representatives of district-based organisations, Hong Kong deputies to the National People's Congress, and representatives of Hong Kong members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Other functionaries of the government, including members of the executive and legislative bodies, are either appointed by the Chief Executive or elected by voters.

Beijing controls 665 members of the Election Committee out of 800.

Donald Tsang, Beijing's man, last took office as Chief Executive on 1st July 2007 for another five years. He was the only candidate securing the required 100 nominations from members of the election committee.

Chief Executive Tsang, development of democracy and universal suffrage

Chief Executive Donald Tsang had promised to consult the population about three possible models for attainment of universal suffrage for the election of the chief executive and all Legislative Council members . The Green Paper which was supposed to propose and explain the three models finally turned out to be a document just asking questions. His proposal for universal suffrage has now been postponed until at least 2012.

On 12 October 2007, in a phone-in radio program, Chief Executive Donald Tsang came under fire for describing China's Cultural Revolution in the 1960s as an example of "extreme democracy." "If we go to the extreme, people can go to the extreme like what we saw during the Cultural Revolution. For instance, in China, when people take everything into their own hands, then you cannot govern the place," he said. This was in line with another speech he delivered on 10 October and that was weak in terms of democracy.

The European Parliament and Hong Kong

At the time of handover of Hong Kong and Macau, the European Parliament had appointed a special rapporteur but since then, this post has disappeared and MEP Belder, the Rapporteur on China, now covers Hong Kong in his mandate.

Following the request of Martin Lee to have a European resolution on Hong Kong, some MEPs are considering the possibility of reinstalling a special rapporteur dealing exclusively with the democracy in Hong Kong.

"Due to the quiet and silent manipulation of Hong Kong's political institutions and the side-lining of the pro-democracy forces, it is time to repeatedly raise the issue at the international level if we want to move forward to a full and genuine democracy in Hong Kong as it had been agreed upon when the Basic Law was drafted," Martin Lee concluded.

In 2012, Mr. Tsang's term will be up and President Hu Jintao will be stepping down. Who, then, will be left to take charge of Hong Kong? 


[1] Beijing controls 665 members of the Election Committee out of 800.

[2] Eligible voters in a functional constituency may include natural persons as well as other designated legal entities such as organisations and corporations. Pro-democracy supporters criticise this system for giving a relative minority too much power and influence. The right to vote for corporations and legal entities has also been a point of controversy. For some functional constituencies, the entire body of eligible voters consists of legal entities that are not natural persons.

[3] Geographical constituencies, as opposed to functional constituencies are elected by all eligible voters according to geographically demarcated constituencies.

[4] The NPC is the highest state body in the People's Republic of China, whose membership is still largely determined by the Communist Party of China.

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