Hong Kong (AsiaNews) - In order to protest against the diktat of Beijing, which has effectively eliminated the possibility of universal suffrage for the election of the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, activists and Democrat MPs yesterday disrupted a speech by a senior Chinese official and accused the government of the territory of having "broken their promises" behaving in a "shameful" manner.
Their protest forced Li Fei, deputy Secretary General of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, to cut short his meeting with officials in Hong Kong. The protesters were taken away by police.
Their demonstration was sparked by mainland China's dominant interference in Hong Kong's
electoral policies. Protected by the "Basic Law", a small democratic constitution bequeathed by the British and in force
until 2047, the former colony
are demanding democratic
elections and universal suffrage of officials for 2017. Beijing, on the other hand, now considers itself the legitimate government of the Territory:
it has responded to the Democrats proposals
with an election of candidates
who must be approved by a small group handpicked by China. Activists point out that this makes the vote pure farce.
Immediately after the eviction of activists by the authorities, Li Fei resumed his speech
and clarified the official position:
"Any leader
who wished Hong Kong to become an independent political entity or change the
country's socialist system will not have a political future". The Catholic Church, while urging dialogue, supports
the nonviolent civil disobedience if the proposals
violate the principles of human rights.