Hong Kong elections: FCO 'welcomes' Chinese proposals as tensions rise

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/05/hong-kong-election-china-uk-tension

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The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has said that it "welcomes" Beijing's highly restrictive decision on Hong Kong elections, amid a push by Downing Street to bolster trade links with the world's second-largest economy.

In a statement posted on Thursday night, an FCO spokesperson said: "We welcome the confirmation that China's objective is for the election of Hong Kong's Chief Executive through universal suffrage." Beijing's proposal, released on Sunday, will allow the city's 5 million-person constituency to choose their top leader, but only from among two to three candidates who are pre-screened for loyalty to Beijing.

"While we recognise that there is no perfect model, the important thing is that the people of Hong Kong have a genuine choice and a real stake in the outcome," the statement added.

Critics have called Beijing's proposal a "fake democracy" that only gives residents of the former British colony an illusion of choice. Pro-democracy activists, led by the Occupy Central with Love and Peace movement, have threatened to protest the decision by leading Hong Kong into an "era of civil disobedience", beginning with a mass demonstration intended to paralyse the city's central business district. Beijing has shown no signs that it will back down.

"The British government shouldn't use the words 'universal suffrage' to refer to Beijing's proposal," said Occupy Central co-organiser Chan Kin-man. "They should be very careful about using this word – they should put it in quotation marks."

He continued: "Of course I myself would not invite any concrete interventions from any foreign countries – I believe the future of Hong Kong democracy lies with Hong Kong people – but I believe they should feel some responsibility for supporting universal values that are shared by Hong Kong people."

Martin Lee, a former member of the Hong Kong parliament who has travelled to the UK to rally support for the territory's democratic movement, called the FCO's statement "shameful".

"It really saddens me, because I don't know if they still remember that they're one of the two signatories of the Joint Declaration," he said, referring to the 1984 document co-signed by British and Chinese officials that guaranteed civil liberties and limited autonomy to the city until 2047. "It's so deferential, like a junior clerk at the office writing a memo for the prime minister."

Meanwhile, the House of Commons has decided to continue with an inquiry into Hong Kong's democratic development, despite pressure from Beijing to call it off. China's ambassador to Britain and the National People's Congress Foreign Affairs committee have called the inquiry, which examines China's commitment to the Joint Declaration's obligations, "highly inappropriate" behaviour that interferes in China's internal affairs.

The nationalist tabloid Global Times, an arm of the Communist party mouthpiece People's Daily, said in an editorial on Thursday that David Cameron would have to "ponder the consequences" if he decided to speak out on Hong Kong. Under Cameron, British businesses signed £14bn worth of trade deals with China during a three-day UK trip by the country's prime minister Li Keqiang in June.

"The Western world can utilise pan-democrats to plunge Hong Kong society into disorder. But if these radicals intend to take advantage of the West to gain bargaining chips, it will not work," the Global Times said. "Indeed, the UK has influence upon some groups of people in Hong Kong but its impact on the West Pacific has almost come down to zero."

On Tuesday, Hong Kong's last British governor, Chris Patten, argued that the UK has "moral responsibilities" for the city's future. "When Chinese officials attack British MPs and others for commenting on developments in Hong Kong, they ignore the fact that Britain too has treaty obligations for 50 years, which reflect what our country has said and promised in the past," he wrote in a strongly-worded commentary in the Financial Times. "Failure to do as we pledged would clearly be dishonourable.

Susan Rice, the US national security advisor to Barack Obama, plans to raise the issue of universal suffrage in Hong Kong with senior Chinese officials during a trip to Beijing this weekend, the New York Times reported on Thursday. Rice would "remind the Chinese that Hong Kong had thrived with Western-style civil liberties since Britain returned it to China in 1997," the paper said, citing an unnamed senior official. The US government has refrained from openly condemning China's decision.

"I think it's time for the international community to wake up," said Lee. "This is China – the number two largest economy in the world, flexing its political muscles. What's the point of signing any agreement with China, if she breaks her promises?"