Hong Kong leadership election marks new ground in city's politics

HONG KONG -- Many see the selection of Hong Kong's leader as a farce -- the incumbent will almost certainly be picked again today by a committee that usually goes with the choice of China's rulers.

But for the first time since the former British colony returned to Beijing's rule, the election has had a challenger and American-style debates. It also saw the incumbent -- veteran civil servant Donald Tsang -- promise a specific plan to bring full democracy to China's wealthiest city.

Tsang is expected to coast to re-election by an 800-seat election committee loaded with tycoons, leaders of special interest groups and other elites.

His rival is Alan Leong, a lawmaker and lawyer who believes stable, well-educated Hong Kong is ready for full democracy.

Leong insists that when the next leadership vote is held in 2012, Hong Kong should let the public directly elect the winner.

The race also featured the first public debates between leadership candidates. The two men met twice in televised events that yielded spirited argument about a range of issues.

When this former British colony returned to Chinese rule 10 years ago, the Communist leadership in Beijing said Hong Kong could keep its capitalist ways, maintain its civil liberties and be semiautonomous under a "one country, two systems" formula. The city's mini-constitution, or Basic Law, says Hong Kong will eventually gain full democracy, referred to as universal suffrage, but no timeline has been given.

Until now, Hong Kong's leadership has been reluctant to give the public a clear idea about how political reforms would unfold. Many believed the government's plan was to stall the process because Beijing was never serious about allowing full democracy.

But Tsang distinguished himself in this campaign by saying he wanted to settle the matter before the 2012 elections. He has promised to work out a specific timetable for the reforms.

"The basic law promises universal suffrage. The people want it," he said Friday. "This has bothered this administration for 10 years. If we don't get it resolved in the next five, this will become a real burden for whoever succeeds me."

Tsang has insisted that he drafted this plan without consulting Beijing.

"I have not cleared my line with the mainland, what I said, but I have a clear feeling they want to resolve this," he said.

Hong Kong's first post-British leader, the shipping tycoon Tung Chee-hwa, was unopposed when he won a second term. He resigned in 2005 with two years left in the term, citing poor health. But it's believed he was forced out because he was widely unpopular and Beijing lost faith in him.

When Tsang campaigned to serve out Tung's term, he also ran unopposed because his challengers couldn't muster up enough support to get on the ballot. Candidates must be backed by more than 100 members of the 800-seat panel to join the race.

Democracy in Hong Kong is still a sensitive subject on the mainland. When Tsang recently gave an interview to CNN, the parts of the program in which he discussed democracy were blacked out in Guangzhou, a mainland city near Hong Kong in Guandong province.

Michael DeGolyer, a professor in the government and international studies department at Hong Kong Baptist University, said Leong's candidacy and the debates made the race a real contest for public opinion.

Some in Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement opposed running a candidate because they thought it was best to boycott an election they claimed was a farce. But DeGolyer thought Leong's campaign turned out to have a positive influence.

"I think that is a very big achievement for the pro-democracy strategy because we tried years and years of boycott and denunciation and refusal to this "small-circle" election, but what were we getting?" DeGolyer said.