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A spokesman with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region(SAR) government on Thursday evening refuted a United States report asserting the prospects for the region 's universal suffrage by 2017 are dimming, and asked foreign governments to respect China's internal affairs.
The report came a day before thedeputy secretary-general of the National People's Congress Standing Committee and chairman of its Basic Law Committee Li Fei's visit to Hong Kong, and exchange ideas about the city's political reform with the local government officials and citizens.
"It is the common aspiration of the Central People's Government, the government of the HKSAR, and the people of Hong Kong to implement successfully the universal suffrage of the Chief Executive(CE) in 2017," said the spokesman in a statement.
The statement came in response to an annual report by the U.S. Congress's U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission(USCC) .
The said report was publicized a day before Li Fei, chairman of the HKSAR Basic Law Committee (BLC) under the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress(NPC), paid a three-day visit to the city.
"The current term of HKSAR government is committed to attaining universal suffrage for the selection of the CE in 2017, strictly in accordance with the Basic Law and relevant Interpretations and Decisions of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress," the statement said.
"We will launch public consultation for the methods for selecting the CE in 2017 and for forming the Legislative Council in 2016 in December this year," it said.
The USCC report, issued on Wednesday, said that "despite official statements of support from Beijing and the Hong Kong chief executive, the continued lack of meaningful progress calls into question Beijing's real intentions. Prospects for universal suffrage by 2017 are dimming."
"Political interference, government restraints on access to information, and self-censorship continue to take a toll on press freedom in Hong Kong. Public perceptions of media credibility have declined since the handover...and the totality of the evidence suggests that Beijing does not intend to allow real democracy to develop in Hong Kong," said the U.S. report.
"We can not agree with the USCC's conclusion that the prospects for universal suffrage by 2017 are dimming. In any event, Hong Kong's constitutional development, according to the Basic Law is an internal affair of the HKSAR. We hope that foreign governments and legislatures will respect this principle," the HKSAR's statement said.
"The government of the HKSAR is also fully committed to protecting the freedom of speech and freedom of the press, and maintaining an environment in which a free and active press can operate under minimum regulation," it said.
"The freedom and right of procession and peaceful assembly are enshrined in the Basic Law and the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance. The Police endeavor to facilitate all lawful and peaceful public meetings and processions on one hand and, on the other hand, reduce the impact of such meetings and processions on other members of the public and to ensure public order and public safety. The Police always handle all public order events in a fair, just and impartial manner in accordance with the laws of Hong Kong, " the HKSAR statement responded.
Bryan Wong Pak-nung, assistant professor of Applied Social Studies at the City University of Hong Kong, told the APD that The U.S. has long been attempting to "interfere" into Chinese political order, under the name of "promoting Hong Kong's democracy".
But he stressed that in spite of such interference, the pan-democrats of the territory should not go too closely with foriegn powers.
"Martin Li (founding chairman of the Democratic Party of Hong Kong) has a history of getting along with the western countries, for example," Wong said, "Such acts will hinder communication between Beijing and Hong Kong, which could turn things from bad to worse."
Meawhile, local news commentator said he is doubtful over the neutrality of the report.
"If the USCC is to look into Hong Kong affairs, at least it should do some research in the local," Tai said, "But I've never heard of any of its office based here in Hong Kong."
He added that from the content of the reports, the major source of information is from the pan-demcratic camp, leaving other voices unheard, which makes it more biased.
On the other hand, Bruce Lui Ping-kuen, visiting senior lecturer of the Department of Journalism at the Baptist University of Hong Kong, said there's no point to overread the congressional report. "Such reports are publicized on a regular basis; we can't say there's any hidden purpose behind."
However, he said, there have long been Hong Kong citizens airing dissatisfaction over the status quo. Lying at the heart of the issue, is for the Central government and the Hong Kong government to tackle the deep-rooted problems in city. "Properly dealing with our own internal policies is the best way to expel outsiders' interference," Lui said.
