Chief Executive (CE) Leung Chun-ying said on Tuesday in reply to a reporter's question that "international standards" are a false proposition in regard to Hong Kong's constitutional reform. That was his first public response to a "pledge" by 26 opposition lawmakers last week, who vowed again to veto the SAR government's constitutional reform plans if they fail to comply with "international standards" on democratic elections.

Leung noted that many registered voters in Hong Kong are foreign passport holders. These people are not eligible to vote in countries which do not recognize dual citizenship. This is true in most countries of the world. That is a very important point. Some leading figures from the opposition camp are foreign passport holders, but apparently they do not see anything contentious about this.

The opposition politicians made the "pledge" public the day before they traveled to Shenzhen to meet central government officials in charge of Hong Kong affairs. The meeting was to exchange views on the methods of selecting the CE in 2017 and forming the Legislative Council (LegCo) in 2016, at the invitation of the General Office of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC). This act of political self-indulgence came as no surprise. It only serves to confirm that they are determined to run against the public will in regard to constitutional development. If they turn their threats into action they will be despised for depriving Hong Kong people of universal suffrage in 2017.

Zhang Xiaoming, director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR, said in Shenzhen after the meeting that the "international standards" the opposition politicians insist on are really "double standards". In other words, "international standards" are whatever the opposition says they are. There is no way the SAR government's constitutional reform plans can be passed unless it lets opposition politicians run for the CE's office.

The central government has made it clear they have no problem with "pan-democrats" running for CE of the SAR, providing they meet all the requirements outlined in the Basic Law and relevant decisions of the NPCSC, and do not oppose the central government. Indeed, the controversy over "international standards" is rooted in the opposition's refusal to follow the Basic Law or be patriots. But they have only themselves to blame for losing public support over the issue of universal suffrage. How can the public accept someone as CE election candidate who refuses to love the nation, including Hong Kong, and abide by the Basic Law?

(HK Edition 08/27/2014 page9)