Home>News Center>China
       
 

Criticism of HK election 'groundless'
By Tonny Chan (China Daily HK Edition)
Updated: 2005-01-15 15:44

The government yesterday denounced as groundless the criticisms of Human Rights Watch over the SAR's constitutional development, saying the organization showed a complete disregard of the facts.

Since re-unification, the central government has adhered to its commitment to ensure the people of Hong Kong run the SAR with a high degree of autonomy as provided by the Basic Law.

"Allegations contained in the Human Rights Watch (HRW) report relating to Hong Kong are groundless, with a complete disregard of fundamental facts," the spokesman said in a statement.

In its World Report, HRW claims the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) has ignored requests for consultation by Hong Kong's legislators.

It also says there is concern in Hong Kong that the country will erode human rights protections in the SAR, adding that the Legislative Council (LegCo) election in 2004 was marred by interference and intimidation from Beijing.

Commenting on the criticisms, the spokesman said the country's leaders had repeatedly expressed firm commitment to ensure Hong Kong people enjoy a high degree of autonomy.

"On constitutional development, the SAR government is committed to further opening up the methods for selecting the chief executive in 2007 and forming the LegCo in 2008," the spokesman said.

He said that in making the interpretation and decision last April, the NPCSC "duly exercised" the powers vested upon it by the country's constitution and the Basic Law.

By constitutional design, the central government has the responsibility and authority to oversee Hong Kong's constitutional development.

"It has never been the intention of 'One Country, Two Systems' that Hong Kong can, on its own, introduce changes to its electoral arrangements beyond 2007," the spokesman said.

Last April, the NPCSC accepted Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa's recommendation and let the methods for electing the chief executive in 2007 and the Legislative Council in 2008 be amended according to a set of principles.

Meanwhile, the NPCSC ruled against introducing universal suffrage in the SAR in 2007 and 2008 after listening to the views of different sectors of the community.

The spokesman recalled that senior officials from the NPCSC also met representatives of different social sectors in addition to considering the views collected by the constitutional development task force.

He said that it was clear that while some people supported universal suffrage in 2007 and 2008, there were also those considering that constitutional development should proceed in a gradual and orderly manner.

He said the community should make best use of the room made available by NPCSC to widen the scope of public participation in the electoral arrangements for 2007 and 2008 in order to narrow the distance between existing arrangements and the ultimate aim of universal suffrage.

On a separate occasion, a Hong Kong deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC) said the question of when to have universal suffrage for the election of the chief executive and the legislature should best be left for the next SAR government to answer.

Maria Tam, who is also a member of the Basic Law Committee, made the remark as she set out for Shenzhen to attend a meeting with local NPC deputies and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) members.

Commenting on HRW's criticisms, Tam said it was only a question of time as universal suffrage was already stated as the ultimate objective in the Basic Law.

She believed the community should avoid getting entangled on whether or not there would be universal suffrage for the election of the chief executive and the legislature in 2007 and 2008 because NPCSC had made a clear decision on this.



 
  Today's Top News     Top China News
 

China, US talk to resolve textile disputes

 

   
 

FM: Vietnamese sea bandits shot, captured

 

   
 

Securities watchdog gets IPOs back on track

 

   
 

First SARS vaccine trials a success

 

   
 

Probe lands on Saturn moon; sends photos

 

   
 

Graner convicted in Iraqi prisoner abuse

 

   
  First SARS vaccine trials a success
   
  Expressway accidents kill 6,235 last year
   
  Checking mother-to-child HIV transmission
   
  Securities watchdog gets IPOs back on track
   
  Tree-planting paying off as 18% growth recorded
   
  More cities to establish State assets watchdogs
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  News Talk  
  It is time to prepare for Beijing - 2008  
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: 窝窝午夜色视频国产精品东北| 1000部啪啪毛片免费看| 日产乱码一卡二卡三免费| 亚洲av日韩aⅴ无码色老头| 波多野结衣和乡下公在线观看| 凹凸在线无码免费视频| 色综合久久98天天综合| 国产大片内射1区2区| 日韩在线第三页| 国产精品美女在线观看| eeuss在线播放| 少妇大叫太大太爽受不了| 中文字幕国语对白在线电影| 日本大片免费一级| 久久精品亚洲一区二区三区浴池| 欧美xxx高清| 亚洲大尺度无码无码专区| 欧美黑人肉体狂欢大派对| 无码人妻精品一区二| 人人妻人人做人人爽| 精品国产免费人成网站| 啦啦啦手机完整免费高清观看| 色综合久久一本首久久| 国产亚洲精品拍拍拍拍拍| 香蕉视频黄色在线观看| 国产成人8X视频网站入口| 精品亚洲456在线播放| 国产真实伦实例| 五月婷中文字幕| 国产精品一区二区欧美视频| 2021国产精品一区二区在线| 国产美女精品久久久久久久免费| 97久人人做人人妻人人玩精品| 夜鲁鲁鲁夜夜综合视频欧美| aⅴ精品无码无卡在线观看| 天天看天天干天天操| h在线观看免费| 在镜子里看我怎么c你的| 99re热在线观看| 国产超碰人人模人人爽人人喊| 91精品免费不卡在线观看|