2014-08-21
HKT 11:52
The Chairman of the Basic Law Committee, Li Fei, said on Thursday that the central and Hong Kong governments were showing their sincerity over political reform through three unprecedented events.
He said the seminars in Shenzhen, as well as a visit there last month by the top Beijing official overseeing Hong Kong affairs, Zhang Dejiang, to hear views from Hong Kong political parties, as well as the length of a five-month initial public consultation by the Hong Kong government had never happened before.
Mr Li, who is also the Deputy Secretary General of the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC), was speaking at the first of three seminars in Shenzhen on political reform, the second of which will be attended by Hong Kong lawmakers.
He said implementing universal suffrage in Hong Kong was a historic step forward which would have a deep impact on the territory's longterm stability, national sovereignty and security.
Meanwhile, a local delegate to the NPCSC, Rita Fan, said she was not optimistic that there was much leeway for negotiation after the pan-democratic lawmakers declared on Wednesday that they would veto any reform package that did not meet international standards on democracy.
Speaking before attending the seminar, she said she felt this was a way of trying to force Beijing's hand and such an attitude made talks difficult.
http://m.rthk.hk/news/20140821/1031353.htm
