2014-09-04
HKT 17:01
The Chief Executive's Office on Thursday rejected the stinging criticism of Beijing's political reform framework for Hong Kong that was levelled by the territory's last governor, Chris Patten.
Lord Patten had earlier criticised the high nomination threshold for future chief executive candidates stipulated by Beijing, saying such a process was more or less "what happens in Iran".
In an article published in the Financial Times, he had also urged Britain to speak up on the issue, saying the British government had a "moral and political obligation" to ensure that Beijing honours the Sino-British Joint Declaration signed in 1984.
The Chief Executive's Office responded with a terse, three-point statement.
It said none of the governors in colonial Hong Kong had been elected by the people; the Joint Declaration never mentioned anything about universal suffrage for Hong Kong; and promoting political development in the territory was an internal matter which should be decided by the central government and the people of Hong Kong.
A member of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, Rita Fan, said Lord Patten should go back and read the Joint Declaration more carefully.
http://m.rthk.hk/news/20140904/1034864.htm
