'Better Late than Never'
Beijing will delay democratic elections in Hong Kong until 2017, when the current leadership in Beijing will pass behind the gray curtain. "Preserving stability" seems an awfully lame excuse by which to delay the full democratizaion of Hong Kong, as demanded by the Basic Law.
Mr. Tsang and a senior congress official, Qiao Xiaoyang, justified the decision to wait another decade before introducing universal suffrage on the grounds of preserving stability of a community still divided over how and when to achieve full democracy.
Hong Kong still faces a long process of hard negotiation over how the new electoral system will work, and the proposed timetable could be derailed.
The democratic and pro-Beijing forces are deeply divided over many practical issues, including the rules governing a nominating committee that will select candidates for chief executive and how many of them will be able to run.
Beijing's dread of fragmentation was also uttered through Tsang mouth.
Chief Executive Donald Tsang welcomed the ruling, urging Hong Kongers to shelve their differences and work together to hammer out the details.
"We must treasure this hard-earned opportunity," Tsang told reporters. "I sincerely urge everybody to lay down all disagreements and start moving toward conciliation and consensus."
The same fixation on stability that will see Pakistan through, and probably steer relations with Tokyo into calm waters, will delay democracy in Hong Kong.
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