MAC hopes that Hong Kong will abolish its “birdcage election” as soon as possible and carry out general elections
Hong Kong held its third-term chief executive election today (March 25, 2007), and the current Chief Executive Donald Tsang won reelection. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) stated that the result was unsurprising since this election was still a “small-circle election” held under Beijing’s “birdcage democracy” framework. It was not a general election of the chief executive by all of the Hong Kong people. Rather, it was an election through ballots cast by Hong Kong’s 800-member Election Committee, which was formed by a highly controversial process, and not an election by an electorate with one vote per person. The election process and outcome were easily subject to interference and manipulation by China. In fact, during this election, there was an incessant stream of reports on China’s interference, causing people to suspect that China’s pledge of “Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong with a high degree of autonomy” is just empty talk.
However, the MAC also indicated that during this election the Hong Kong residents overcame structural obstacles of the election system and helped the candidates from the pan-democratic camp to obtain the qualification to join the election through joint support. At the same time, due to the efforts and persistence of the pan-democratic camp, candidates in this chief executive election were required to report their political views and aspirations to all of the people of Hong Kong. These all represent further steps for Hong Kong on the road to democracy. The MAC and the Taiwanese people convey deep admiration and strong support for members of the democracy camp in Hong Kong and the Hong Kong people for their persistence in the pursuit of democracy. The MAC also calls on China to promptly implement general elections in Hong Kong.
The MAC stated that since the handover of Hong Kong, the Taiwanese government has consistently adhered to the principles of “goodwill, active cooperation, and permanent peace” in its continued efforts to develop liaison and contacts with the Hong Kong SAR government and persons of various sectors of society. It has also welcomed the Hong Kong SAR government to establish an office in Taiwan at an early time in the hope of making people-to-people and other types of contacts between Taiwan and Hong Kong more smooth and enhancing mutually beneficial cooperation. Regrettably, however, the Hong Kong SAR government has adopted a self-restricting conservative attitude. In addition to restricting visits to Taiwan by Hong Kong officials, the Hong Kong SAR government often either refuses to issue visas to high-ranking Taiwanese officials and work permits for personnel of Taiwan's representative office in Hong Kong, or procrastinates and makes unreasonable demands in such cases. For example, this time the MAC assisted Taiwanese reporters in going to Hong Kong to report on the chief executive election, originally hoping such reports will give the Taiwanese people a better understanding of Hong Kong. However, the MAC’s staff accompanying the group to provide services either did not receive approval for their visas by the time soon before the trip departure, or else they had obtained a valid visa but were denied entry at the Hong Kong airport. These various unfriendly actions by the Hong Kong SAR government will in no way benefit relations and exchanges between Taiwan and Hong Kong.
The MAC indicated that civilian economic and trade contacts between Taiwan and Hong Kong have always been frequent and close. Such contacts have engendered numerous emergency relief incidents and judicial mutual assistance issues. The authorities on both sides across the Strait need to cooperate more closely to provide better and more convenient services to the people on both sides. The MAC appeals to Mr. Donald Tsang to seize this historic moment, when he is no longer under reelection pressure, to actively and pragmatically handle relations between Taiwan and Hong Kong so that Hong Kong can play a bigger role as a bridge in cross-strait relations.