Democracy making progress in SAR under the principle of 'one country, two systems'

The path of democracy in Hong Kong under the guidance of the Communist Party of China and the central government is the right way ahead for the special administrative region's democratic progress, which suits the city's realities and will improve the well-being of its residents, think tanks on Hong Kong studies said on Tuesday.

A seminar on Hong Kong's democratic development under the principle of "one country, two systems" was held in Beijing on Tuesday, jointly organized by the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, the One Country Two Systems Research Institute, and the Our Hong Kong Foundation.

More than 100 representatives from the mainland and the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions attended the meeting. They discussed the central government's principles and position on the HKSAR's democratic progress, the new electoral system and its implementation.

Xu Ze, president of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, said since Hong Kong's return to the motherland in 1997, the central government has firmly supported it in developing democracy in accordance with the law and in an orderly manner.

"Facts have fully proved that the Party and the Chinese government are the designer, creator and advancer of Hong Kong's democracy," he said.

"If Hong Kong's democratic system fails to ensure the principle of 'patriots administering Hong Kong', there will surely be chaos", Xu said, adding that the central government took decisive measures in recent years to improve systems to ensure the implementation of the principle, enabling Hong Kong to turn from chaos to good governance.

Wang Zhenmin, director of the Center for Hong Kong and Macao Studies at Tsinghua University, said the right path of democracy in Hong Kong under the principle of "one country, two systems" must be led by the central government.

Hong Kong should develop democracy and meanwhile ensure security, achieve good governance and improve people's well-being, he said, adding that practice has proved that the Western model of democracy does not work in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong held its seventh Legislative Council election in December, the first such under the revamped electoral system, which ensures Hong Kong is administered by patriots.

He Junzhi, associate dean of the Institute of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Development Studies at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, said the new electoral system is a beneficial arrangement for the country and the Hong Kong SAR.

It ensures the political security of the country and the SAR and establishes a new mechanism for Hong Kong residents to participate in the management of State and local affairs, he said.

Tam Yiu-chung, a member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from Hong Kong, said the strong vitality and institutional resilience of the "one country, two systems" policy is the fundamental guarantee for Hong Kong's democracy.

"Hong Kong has a bright future since its democratic development got back on track," he added.

What they say

Huang Ping, director of the Center for Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

The Election Committee, with broader coverage and more balanced participation, better reflects the interests of Hong Kong society. The time between the design of the new electoral system and the LegCo election was very short. The turnout rate of around 30 percent was not low for a local election. What matters is not the turnout rate, but whether the election is designed to be more reasonable, fair, practical and conducive to long-term development.

Grenville Cross, the former director of Public Prosecutions of the HKSAR and a British senior counsel

The electorate of around 30 percent was a respectable result for a new electoral model and provides a solid foundation for the future. The 90 incoming legislators, whilst all patriotic, will have divergent views on domestic issues, and will undoubtedly hold the government to account. They include people of standing and promise who are entering politics for all the right reasons. If any democratic model is to succeed, it must be capable not only of solving actual problems, but also of anticipating future concerns. This, in turn, requires it to be manned by people of the right quality who are genuinely interested in promoting the public good, and this has now been achieved.

Allan Zeman, chairman of Lan Kwai Fong Group

The new system for LegCo can ensure that everyone can work together to finally solve the many problems that Hong Kong faced such as lack of housing, lack of technology, lack of national education. When everybody is working together as one team, bills will still get scrutinized, but instead of taking four to five months to get passed, it should only take a few days. There are scholars, professors, medical doctors, experts in various fields, and business executives in the Election Committee. There are also foreigners as well as Mandarin speakers and it really encompasses a very broad group.