Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang is "optimistic" that full democracy in the territory will be mapped out within his coming second term, due to begin this March.
"It will be rather too late if it comes by the end of the term [in 2012]," he told The South China Morning Post in an interview published on Thursday, January 25.
"I really hope that as soon as the term begins, we will be able to chart out what we want to do."
However, Mr. Tsang expressed some skepticism over the implementation of democracy throughout Asia.
"[The ideas that] a government without universal suffrage cannot deliver anything and universal suffrage can make everything feasible are not true. In Asia, the universal suffrage system does not seem to deliver stable government, except in Japan," he said.
No Real Election, No Real Democracy
There is no popular vote for Chief Executive in Hong Kong, a British Colony for 156 years that reverted to Chinese rule in 1997 under the promise of eventual democratization.
Members of the legislative committee are chosen through a mixture of popular votes and votes by various interest groups, and the Chief Executive is currently directly chosen by an election committee largely composed of pro-Beijing figures. This virtually guarantees Tsang's victory in the upcoming election this March.
Yet despite a guaranteed loss, Hong Kong's Democratic Party is nominating candidate Alan Leong to run.
Legislative Council Member and Democratic Party founding Chairman Martin Lee says Leong is participating merely as "cannon fodder" to demonstrate the inappropriateness of the current system.
"We know perfectly well we're going to lose, but this will display just how inappropriate this small-circle election is," Mr. Lee told Hong Kong press in Chinese during Leung's campaign speech. "We support Alan Leong not to have him win, but to put up a glorious fight."
China, Not Hong Kong Voters, Chooses the Winner
Chan Kinman, Associate Professor of Social Science at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, told Radio Taiwan International (RTI) in Chinese that talk of general elections may simply represent Tsang's individual desire, and was something that could only be decided with Beijing's approval after a long period of discussion and debate.
"This matter is not something that the Hong Kong administrative region alone can decide, it will definitely have to first pass through China and receive Beijing's approval," Associate Professor Chen told RTI.
He believes that most importantly, the question of general elections is a factor in which candidates can win in the court of public opinion.
"Everybody knows that Donald Tsang will certainly win. What Tsang is most concerned about is whether or not he can win in the court of public opinion against Alan Leong.
"If he wins the ballot but loses in terms of public opinion, as far as his future is concerned, he will come across a lot of difficulty over the next five years.
"So he really wants to crush his opponent in the court of public opinion. Only then can he say he was successful in this election."
The question of democratization has become particularly heated in Hong Kong in recent years. In 2003, over half a million people took to the streets protesting proposed anti-subversion legislation, which would hand unprecedented powers to Beijing. The following year, 200,000 strong protests were held calling for greater democracy.
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