Hong Kong Democrats Discuss Reform With Beijing

Hong Kong Democrats Discuss Reform With Beijing
2010-05-26 11:57

Three senior leaders of Hong Kong's opposition Democratic Party met with a representative from Beijing on Monday. It's the first time the Democrats have met with a representative of the Beijing's communist leadership to engage in talks on democracy reform.

It comes as Hong Kong's Beijing-backed administration tries to win votes for its 2012 political reform package. Hong Kong's pro-democracy politicians say the reforms are limited, and they accuse Beijing of trying to slow Hong Kong's progress towards full democracy.

Democratic Party Chairman Albert Ho attended the meeting on Monday with Li Gang, the Deputy Director of the Chinese regime's liaison office in Hong Kong. Ho says huge differences still exist between them, and Democrats will veto any reform proposal unless Beijing makes major concessions.

[Albert Ho, Hong Kong Democratic Party Chairperson]:
"I think if we cannot make any advances, or if there's a backward step taken, I really don't feel I can convince or ask [Democratic] Party members to support this reform proposal."

Currently, Hong Kong has a partial democracy. Half its 60 legislators are elected by the public, and the other half are picked by special interest groups. Hong Kong's chief executive is appointed by a committee, and not directly elected by voters.

A reform proposal for 2012 backed by Beijing would increase the sizes of both the legislature and the committee that appoints the chief executive. But Hong Kong voters would still have the same, limited voting power.

The Democratic Party says this proposal is not good enough. They want a proposal that immediately gives voters more power by 2012, and works towards full democracy in Hong Kong by 2020.

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