2014–2015 Hong Kong electoral reform
[1] Most of the major political factions campaigned for their ideas on universal suffrage, including Occupy Central with Love and Peace, an advocacy group for the occupation movement, to pressure the Beijing government to implement full universal suffrage initiated by the pan-democracy camp, as well as the Alliance for Peace and Democracy, an anti-occupy central alliance formed by the pro-Beijing camp.
The annual July 1 marches launched by the pan-democracy camp which demanded genuine democracy as promised in the Basic Law also draw thousands of Hong Kong people each year.
Donald Tsang, the then chief executive, published the Green Paper on Constitutional Development to consult the public on the options, roadmap, and timetable for implementing universal suffrage in July 2007.
[7] The think tank Hong Kong Democratic Foundation (HKDF) also sets out proposals of 2016 Legislative Council elections and 2017 Chief Executive universal suffrage on 29 May 2013.
[9] On 8 January 2014, the Alliance for True Democracy (ATD) released its "Chief Executive Election Plan" with the support of all 27 pro-democratic Legislative Council members.
[10] For the Legislative Council elections, the Scholars Group of the ATD put forward proposals for the transition toward the universal suffrage:[11] For 2016 Legislative Council Election, the Scholars Group suggests: For the universal suffrage of the Legislative Council, there are two proposals from the Scholar Group: A group of 18 moderate academics, including Dr Brian Fong Chi-hang, vice-chairman of the thinktank SyngergyNet, former Legislative Council president Andrew Wong Wang-fat, Community Care Fund head Dr Law Chi-kwong and University of Hong Kong law lecturer Eric Cheung Tat-ming, put forward a mid-way proposal in April 2014 to give the public a strong role in selecting chief executive candidates without breaching the Basic Law.
[14] Li Fei, Qiao's successor as chairman of the NPCSC Law Committee stressed the similar statement on 22 November 2013, "the chief executive is accountable to the central government as well as Hong Kong.
However, major pro-democracy parties have expressed reservations, with some fearing that such action could divert public attention from the camp's Occupy Central strategy to fight for universal suffrage.
[25] The Occupy Central movement commissioned HKPOP to run a poll on three proposals which involve allowing citizens to directly nominate candidates to present to the Beijing government from 20 to 29 June 2014.
[27] All three call for the public to be allowed to nominate candidates for the 2017 chief executive election, an idea repeatedly dismissed by Beijing as inconsistent with the Basic Law.
[29] In mid August, pan-democratic legislators met with Zhang Xiaoming, director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in Hong Kong in groups to discuss political reform.
It was attended by director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office Wang Guangya and Basic Law Committee chairman Li Fei and also 15 pan-democrats.
[31] Labour Party lawmaker Lee Cheuk-yan, said Hong Kong should not accept a proposal that only promises "one person, one vote," but screens out popular candidates.
[30] On 31 August 2014, the Tenth Session of the Standing Committee of the Twelfth National People's Congress (NPCSC) set limits for the 2016 Legislative Council and 2017 Chief Executive elections.
[32] While Li Fei, a deputy secretary general of the committee, said that the procedure would "protect the broad stability of Hong Kong now and in the future," pro-democracy advocates viewed the decision as a betrayal of the principle of "one person, one vote," as they feared that candidates deemed unsuitable by the Beijing authorities would stand no chance of being nominated.
The Standing Committee decision was set to be the basis for new electoral law crafted by the Legislative Council, where Hong Kong's Democratic Party had already promised to "veto this revolting proposal."
Pan-democrats call it a "passive" scheme and dislike the high threshold for a revote, while the pro-Beijing side does not want to give the public veto power.
"[38] On 22 April 2015, the Hong Kong government unveiled its proposal for the electoral reform in the Report on the Public Consultation on the Methods for Selecting the Chief Executive in 2017 and for Forming the Legislative Council in 2016.
[44] A pro-Beijing group, Alliance for Peace and Democracy on 9 May launched a nine-day campaign, with hundreds of booths set up to collect signatures from Hong Kongers aged 18 and above, in support of the government's proposed electoral reforms.
On 31 May 2015, three top Beijing officials, Basic Law Committee chairman Li Fei, Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office director Wang Guangya and Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in Hong Kong director Zhang Xiaoming met with members of the Legislative Council in Shenzhen, which included pan-democratic legislators.
New People's Party chairwoman Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee lost her tough composure during a radio show on the next day, openly sobbing as she lamented her failure to cast her ballot.
Lee and Chan also voiced concerns over press freedom in Hong Kong, referring to violent assaults on journalists and alleging that Beijing is pressuring advertisers to shun critical media.
Biden underscored Washington's "long-standing support for democracy in Hong Kong and for the city's high degree of autonomy under the 'one country, two systems' framework," the White House said.
[54] During their trip to America, Lee and Chan also met with Nancy Pelosi, minority leader of the House of Representatives, and members of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China.
"The future of freedom and democracy in Hong Kong is under serious threat," Senator Sherrod Brown, head of the commission, said in a prepared statement, as quoted by Reuters.
Tam Yiu-chung, ex-chairman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong who also met the trio, read the congressmen's interest in compromise as a signal that they wanted to see the reform package passed.
[57] Clegg also criticised British Prime Minister David Cameron for prioritising trade with the world's second largest economy over democracy in Hong Kong.
[58] Anson Chan and Martin Lee also attended a Foreign Affairs Select Committee hearing, speaking out that they were "concerned that neither of the two signatories to the Joint Declaration – that is, China and Britain – is adequately fulfilling their respective responsibilities on the terms of this internationally binding treaty."
[63] Anson Chan and Martin Lee heavily criticised the UK government's acceptance of China's plan for limiting free elections in its former colony of Hong Kong.
[61] After the electoral reform proposal was voted down, British minister Hugo Swire expressed his country's disappointment at the outcome, and said that "a transition to universal suffrage is the best way to guarantee Hong Kong's stability".
