Opposition's pipedream

Martin Lee, former Democratic Party (DP) chairman, on Wednesday put forward a plan for the chief executive (CE) election by universal suffrage but was forced to withdraw it on Thursday under overwhelming pressure from fellow opposition leaders. And he had to publicly apologize for proposing a plan that could be discussed. This episode shows that radical forces are now dominating the opposition camp, where those willing to discuss the universal suffrage issue rationally and pragmatically will not have the guts to speak up from now on. This situation does not bode well for the implementation of universal suffrage in Hong Kong.

However, the belief that they can make the central government give in by turning radical en masse will prove delusional, because the central authorities' bottom line is insurmountable that the CE election by universal suffrage must proceed according to the Basic Law and relevant decisions of the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC). The central government will never relinquish the bottom line, because it is crucial to securing Hong Kong's interests as well as the nation's as a whole and to protecting the fundamental interests of investors as well as Hong Kong compatriots.

It is widely known that there used to be two different approaches among opposition parties regarding the central government: one is pro-communication and the other confrontational. The die-hard radical forces led by the Legion of Social Democrats (LSD), People Power and the Civic Party (CP) used to be the minority while the majority of opposition members were in favor of moderate and rational communication. The passage of the constitutional reform plan by the Legislative Council in 2012 marks a positive result of rational communication and favorable interaction between the opposition and the central authorities.

Afterwards, however, the DP became the target of outrageous political attacks from the LSD, CP and their ultra-radical supporters. As a result the DP and fellow moderate opposition party the Hong Kong Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood were forced to turn radical while the whole opposition camp found itself rolling in a fanatical race for radicalism stardom. This is bad for Hong Kong and suicidal for the opposition, because by sticking to radicalism they are narrowing their own political elbow room while the internal fight for political profit intensifies. After all, radical voters account for only 10 percent of the total in Hong Kong. The more radical the opposition becomes the more support it will lose.

This is an excerpted translation of a Wen Wei Po editorial published on April 12.

Don't let guard down yet

Hong Kong has activated the epidemic emergency response mechanism to prevent the H7N9 bird flu virus from entering as it has killed 10 people on the mainland. On Thursday the SAR government began conducting random faster tests on live poultry imported from the mainland to make sure only healthy birds are sold at local markets. As a city once ravaged by bird flu it is absolutely necessary for Hong Kong to remain vigilant against imported live poultry.

So far not one case of human-to-human infection has been reported. While watching out for signs of human-to-human infection the government should focus on preventing the virus from entering Hong Kong via imported live poultry.

A somewhat comforting fact is that all suppliers of live poultry for Hong Kong are based in neighboring Guangdong and Hainan provinces, where the H7N9 virus has not been found. The first batch of 1,000 live chickens imported from the mainland since the outbreak arrived at Man Kan To border crossing on Thursday afternoon and all 30 blood samples randomly taken from the match came back negative from lab tests for the H7N9 virus. This means live poultry import from the mainland is still safe and there is no need for a total ban at this moment. The government has done a commendable job of keeping related information up to date and highly transparent, allowing local residents to remain confident about their well-being.

The next stage of epidemic prevention, on the government's part, should be focused on three areas: first, screening of visitors should focus on those from the region where the H7N9 virus has been found; second, step up information exchange and cooperation with Guangdong province because it is the leading supplier of live poultry and source of visitors to Hong Kong; and finally, in addition to testing imported live poultry, relevant authorities should also gear up monitoring of migrant birds passing through Hong Kong to ensure a timely response to the presence of infectious disease.

This is an excerpted translation of a Hong Kong Commercial Daily editorial published on April 12.

(HK Edition 04/13/2013 page6)