Taiwan supports Hong Kong universal suffrage

2014-10-02

President Ma Ying-jeou reaffirmed his backing for free elections in Hong Kong Sept. 30, urging Beijing to honor its promise of autonomy for the mainland Chinese special administrative region.

“Fast-tracked implementation of universal suffrage will be a win-win situation for both Hong Kong and Beijing,” Ma said as chairman of the ruling Kuomintang during a party meeting.

“It will also help reduce the psychological gap between people in Taiwan and their counterparts in mainland China, which is beneficial to the positive development of cross-strait relations in the long run.”

Ma cited freedom and democracy as the core values of the KMT, saying the party fully understands and supports demands for universal suffrage by people in Hong Kong.

Concerning the escalating protests in the SAR, Ma urged Beijing to exercise caution and self-restraint. At the same time, Ma hoped people in Hong Kong would express their opinions rationally and continue to use moderate methods to call for democracy.

The Mainland Affairs Council also issued a four-point statement on the matter, underscoring the importance of democracy, freedom, prosperity and stability in Hong Kong.

“The government is deeply concerned with and strongly supportive of the appeal by the people of Hong Kong as it is key to the region’s sustainable development,” the MAC said.

The council hopes that Beijing and Hong Kong can reach a consensus to protect people’s fundamental rights of assembly and speech. “This will be a significant development in the pursuit of democracy and rule of law for the ethnic Chinese people.”

The opposition Democratic Progressive Party threw its weight behind the pro-democracy demonstration in Hong Kong in a statement released the same day.

“It is essential that the people of Hong Kong are given a genuine electoral choice in both their leadership and in decisions on their future,” the DPP said.

“We call on the Hong Kong and Chinese governments to respect the constructive discussions that have taken place regarding genuine electoral choice and to honor their promise of democratic elections for the people of Hong Kong.”

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=222266&CtNode=413)