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BEIJING, April (Xinhuanet) -- Tsang Hin-chi, a member
of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC), Monday
dubbed as troublemakers a group of people in Hong Kong who plan to hold more
protests against Beijing's interpretation of the Basic Law annexes.
"All they want is to stir up
trouble in Hong Kong," Tsang said in Beijing Monday.
The NPCSC is having a five-day meeting that ends
Tuesday to interpret key electoral provisions in the Basic Law that concern
election of the chief executive and formation of the legislature.
The move reportedly aims to ensure the Basic Law is
correctly "understood and implemented".
Tsang, who is now attending the NPCSC meeting, is the
sole representative from Hong Kong to be entitled to vote on the interpretation.
When asked whether there will be continuous social
strife following the NPCSC interpretation, Tsang criticized some people in Hong
Kong for trying to "plunge the city into turmoil", Cable TV reported.
"I have said many times that Beijing's interpretation
will definitely be good for Hong Kong and serve the interests of Hong Kong
people," Tsang said. "It will not harm Hong Kong."
He stressed that the NPCSC move has a legal basis and
will help put an end to disputes over the political reform process.
Some democrats recently began to organize
marathon-type sit-ins at Central to protest against the NPCSC interpretation.
They said they would demonstrate at the main entrance of Central Government
Offices after the NPCSC releases the content of the interpretation today. Tsang
said that while the people have the freedom to oppose the interpretation, they
should not always think negatively about it.
Meanwhile, Raymond Woo, a member of the Basic Law
Committee, said yesterday the NPCSC interpretation will not specify that the
central government has the power to kick-start or decide on changes to the
method of selecting the chief executive.
However, "it would clearly indicate that the central
government has such power to prevent the situation in Hong Kong from running out
of control," he said.
Woo, a Hong Kong deputy to the NPC, was invited to be
present at the NPCSC meeting.
NPCSC Deputy Secretary General Qiao Xiaoyang, its
Legislative Affairs Commission Vice-Chairman Li Fei, and the Hong Kong and Macao
Affairs Office Deputy Director Xu Ze will host a press conference this afternoon
to announce details of the NPCSC interpretation.
(China Daily HK Edition) |