Beijing's 2017 reform plan has 'won support of Hongkongers': Zhang Dejiang
Zhang Dejiang insists Beijing's guidelines have won over Hongkongers, yet a Post poll finds nearly half the city wants the reform model vetoed
Beijing's rules for Hong Kong's next chief executive election have "won support and endorsement among the people of Hong Kong", China's top legislator and third-ranking official Zhang Dejiang said yesterday.
The comments by Zhang, the chairman of the national legislature, contrast with the results of a st poll that found nearly half of Hongkongers want lawmakers to veto an election model that complies with Beijing's rules.
Zhang was speaking for the first time since the National People's Congress Standing Committee said only two or three candidates - each with support from half of a 1,200-strong nominating committee - would be allowed to run in the 2017 poll, Hong Kong's first under universal suffrage.
His words came as Beijing's ambassador in London, Liu Xiaoming , slammed the "rankest hypocrisy" of people such as Hong Kong's last colonial governor, Chris Patten, who criticised China for not giving the city democracy after Britain did nothing to encourage it.
Zhang told a delegation from the Beijing-loyalist Federation of Trade Unions at a meeting in the capital that the Standing Committee had made its decision "very solemnly after listening to opinions from different sectors in Hong Kong" and after "serious discussions and studies".
It complied with the Basic Law, fitted Hong Kong's situation and showed the central government's sincerity about advancing democracy "in an orderly and gradual manner", he said.
"Therefore, this decision, as I understand, has obtained support and endorsement among the general residents of Hong Kong."
