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: 午夜香港三级在线观看网| 国产精品电影网| 久久免费视频一区| 国产福利拍拍拍| 国色天香社区在线观看免费播放| 免费中文字幕不卡视频| 荡女淫春护土bd在线观看| 国产日产精品_国产精品毛片| 亚洲av无码一区二区乱孑伦as| 经典三级在线播放| 国产高清av在线播放| 中文字幕人成无码人妻| 日本道v高清免费| 催眠体验馆最新章节| 羽田真理n1170在线播放| 国产动作大片中文字幕| 好吊色青青青国产在线观看| 国产精品无码专区在线播放| 99久久精品免费看国产一区二区三区 | 低头看我是怎么c哭你的细节| 黑人巨大白妞出浆| 宝贝过来趴好张开腿让我看看| 亚洲伊人久久大香线蕉AV| 永久在线观看www免费视频| 国产亚洲精品资源在线26U| 日本丰满www色| 国产精品夜间视频香蕉| 99r在线播放| 夜夜躁日日躁狠狠久久| 久久99精品久久水蜜桃| 欧美日韩国产精品综合| 啊轻点灬大巴太粗太长了视频| porn在线精品视频| 韩国伦理电影我妻子的秘密| 在线看欧美成人中文字幕视频 | 精品国产av一二三四区| 国产精品偷伦视频免费观看了| 一区二区三区四区无限乱码| 成人性生交大片免费看| 乳揉みま痴汉电车动漫中文字幕 | 狂野欧美激情性xxxx|