Mainland media attacked for intimidating Hong Kong

In a Legislative Council debate on 25 February, pro-democracy legislators attacked mainland media for intimidating Hong Kong people and for complicating the debate on constitutional reform.

The Council debated a motion led by democrat legislator Andrew Cheng regretting "that the Task Force on Constitutional Development's trip to Beijing lacks transparency and [urging] the Government to immediately consult the public on whether the Chief Executive and all Members of the Legislative Council should be elected by universal suffrage in 2007 and 2008 respectively." The motion also called for the Task Force accurately to represent the views of the Hong Kong public to the Central Government.

The motion was defeated by 5-20 by the functional constituencies and the election committee, while it was backed 13-10 by the geographical constituencies. However, to pass it was required to win in both constituencies under the split voting system.

Cheng argued that recent reports by mainland media on constitutional reform had become "complicated" and "irrational". Independent Margaret Ng proclaimed her disappointment that the Task Force did not clarify to Beijing that the Hong Kong people are seeking independence.

The most powerful arguments against the influence of Xinhua came from The Frontier legislator Emily Lau and Independent Audrey Eu. Lau claimed that articles carried by Xinhua News Agency were scaring the Hong Kong people, to the effect of potentially influencing the September elections. "It seems that the Central Government has a lot of concerns which the SAR government must clarify", she said. Audrey Eu added that if mainland propaganda led few people to vote for democratic candidates in September, relations between the Central Government and Hong Kong might deteriorate. She concluded that the government has a duty to steer the debate back to more reasonable ground.

Unionist legislator Lee Cheuk-yan called for the discussion on democratic reform to concentrate on not just the theory and principle of reform but also to look at the more practical solutions. He held that "... the patriot missile keeps bombarding Hong Kong. In the modern age, love relations do not only focus on theory, but also on co-ordination. Practical problems need practical answers. A love relationship does not mean simply asking each other everyday whether you love me," he said.

Secretary for Constitutional Affairs Stephen Lam denied the allegations that the Task Force lacked transparency. He contended that "there were a lot of media briefings during the trip to Beijing last month, informing the press and public what we discussed."

For the transcript of a briefing by Secretary for Constitutional Affairs after the motion debate, please see enclosed.