Beijing says democracy possible in HK in 2017

By James Pomfret

HONG KONG (Reuters) - China ruled out full democracy for Hong Kong in 2012 on Saturday, ignoring the majority opinion in the former British colony, but said it may pick its leader by universal suffrage at the following opportunity, in 2017.

Full democracy for forming Hong Kong's legislature would follow in 2020, the Standing Committee of China's parliament, the National People's Congress (NPC), said.

Qiao Xiaoyang, a senior NPC official, said it opted for a delay till 2017 to preserve Hong Kong's stability based on a principle of "gradual and orderly progress."

"This is the most active and progressive arrangement we can have," he told a forum in Hong Kong.

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."

But the city's vocal pro-democracy camp, a key voting block in the legislative council, was disappointed at what it saw as yet another delay. It organized a protest march that drew a few hundred people outside the historic legislative building.

The decision to rule out 2012 was effectively the NPC's second veto of a possible date for universal suffrage after a 2004 ruling that quashed hopes for full elections in 2007.

However, the NPC's statement that Hong Kong "may" have universal suffrage in 2017 -- the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong's return from British to Chinese rule -- marked Beijing's clearest indication yet as to when full democracy might finally germinate.

Democratic legislators have been calling for a timetable for democracy, but Civic Party lawmaker Audrey Eu said the pledge to consider full democracy in 2017 was not a promise to allow it.

"It's an expectedly disappointing decision," she said.

"A lot of people concentrate on the reference to 2017 and think there's hope, but to say you may have universal suffrage in that year doesn't mean it's going to happen ... there's no guarantee that it won't be vetoed again."

ULTIMATE AIM

Hong Kong's mini-constitution, the Basic Law, promises universal suffrage as the "ultimate aim" but is vague on a date, giving Beijing scope to dictate a glacial pace of progress.

The chief executive is currently picked by an 800-seat election committee stacked in Beijing's favor, and only half of the city's 60-member legislature are directly elected with the others picked by various business and interest groups.