Hong Kong will have universal suffrage after earning Beijing’s complete trust: Regina Ip

Hong Kong will have universal suffrage only when it has earned the complete trust of the Central Government, said Executive Council convenor Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee. 

Speaking on a radio program on Saturday, Ip said the Basic Law states that the Chief Executive election has to be “specific in the light of the actual situation in the HKSAR and in accordance with the principle of gradual and orderly progress.” 

Yet, after the mass protests and social unrest in 2019, Hong Kong will have to start all over again before fully implementing universal suffrage, she added. 

Ip believed the matter will be postponed for a very long time until the city has earned the complete trust of Beijing that the SAR won’t become the headquarters for anti-China forces. 

Ip continued that both the Central Government and Hongkongers will have to analyze how the city will benefit from universal suffrage, as well as to consider if society would become inclined to the idea of populism. 

If the current legislature was still filled with filibusters as in the past, Hong Kong would not be able to develop the Northern Metropolis and promote operation between public services and private institutes, she added. 

As for the legislation of Article 23 of the Basic Law, the New People’s Party chairwoman referred to remarks by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu that the work will be done by next year at the latest. 

Regarding the details of the legislation, Ip said although there is a treason section in the law already, authorities must remove wordings that are outdated. 

She also said Cap 521 Official Secrets Ordinance has covered the subject of espionage, but is “very ancient” as it is an adaptation of the UK’s version in 1919.