Protesters hold yellow umbrellas and a banner reading “We Want Universal Suffrage” during a pro-democracy rally in Hong Kong, on Feb. 1.
The UK has called on the Hong Kong and Chinese governments to restart talks over constitutional reform in the former British colony, in a rebuke of their policy of prioritizing economic over political issues, the Financial Times reported yesterday.
Legislators in Hong Kong last month rejected a government reform package that would have given 5m citizens the right to elect their chief executive for the first time, but only after a Beijing-friendly panel had screened the candidates.
According to the UK-based newspaper, amid growing concerns about political deadlock and a slowing economy in Hong Kong, Philip Hammond, the UK foreign secretary, said on Tuesday that “a transition to universal suffrage is the best way to guarantee Hong Kong’s stability and prosperity”.
“While there is an understandable desire in some quarters to refocus the political agenda away from constitutional reform to livelihood issues, it is improved governance which will help those issues to be addressed effectively in the longer term,” the FT quoted him as saying.
According to the paper, Mr Hammond’s comments, published alongside the UK government’s twice-yearly parliamentary report on Hong Kong affairs, are a clear rejection of the position taken by CY Leung, the territory’s chief executive, and his political bosses in Beijing.
Philip Hammond, UK foreign secretary
After opposition legislators voted down the reform proposal, claiming it amounted to “fake democracy”, Mr Leung told Hong Kong residents that the government would not reopen talks on constitutional change and would focus on livelihood issues instead.
“As the experience of some European democracies shows, democratic systems and procedures are no panacea for economic and livelihood issues,” he said on July 1, at a speech to mark the 18th anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong from British to Chinese control.
Alan Leong, a legislator from the opposition Civic party, welcomed the British intervention, calling on the government to restart negotiations as soon as possible.
“It is a pre-requisite to effectively deal with livelihood issues that the issue of the political legitimacy of the chief executive and the ruling team must have been sorted out first,” he told the FT.
The UK report noted that the “one country, two systems” arrangement under which Hong Kong has semi-autonomy “has continued to function well overall, but with some areas of increasing contention”.
It highlighted a decline in press freedom, which it called “very concerning”, and the tensions between pro-government and opposition lawmakers in the legislative council, which it said risked “damaging Hong Kong’s traditionally strong governance”.
The Hong Kong government said it had “already made it abundantly clear” that it would not restart negotiations on political reform.
“We urge foreign governments and legislatures to refrain from interfering with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s internal affairs,” the article quoted the Hong Kong government as saying. Ben Bland in Hong Kong
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