China was very much against democracy in Hong Kong even before handover, says Chris Patten
Former governor Chris Patten says that even before the handover, Beijing was resistant to granting Hong Kong universal suffrage
It is "complete nonsense" to suggest that China "always wanted democracy" for Hong Kong, as it appeared "resistant to any form of democracy" even before the 1997 handover, former Hong Kong governor Chris Patten told a US commission.
Patten, a British peer, was responding to a congressman's question on whether Beijing seemed willing to allow democracy in Hong Kong before it resumed sovereignty over the city.
"The Chinese were very much against this moving to greater democracy … because they thought it might lead people in Hong Kong to think they will eventually be independent like, say, Singapore," he said. "So it's complete nonsense to suggest that China always wanted democracy for Hong Kong."
During his tenure, Patten's attempts to increase democracy by allowing more Hongkongers to vote for lawmakers in functional constituencies led Beijing's Hong Kong affairs chief, Lu Ping , to dub him a "sinner of the ages".
Addressing a hearing of the US Congressional-Executive Commission on China via video conference in London, Patten said he "did think that the Chinese would keep their word … and that democracy would inevitably develop", yet it was not until recently that Hongkongers were given "the sort of democratic election … understood in Iran".
He was referring to Beijing's decision on August 31 that while Hong Kong could elect its leader by "one man, one vote" in 2017, only two or three candidates backed by half of a 1,200-strong nominating committee's members could run.