U.S. Envoy Affirms Support for Universal Suffrage in Hong Kong

By KEITH BRADSHER

HONG KONG — The new top American diplomat in Hong Kong reiterated on Tuesday the United States’ support for “genuine universal suffrage” in Hong Kong, but said he would not take any position on how this should be achieved.
Clifford A. Hart Jr., the new American consul general, who arrived on July 30, said in his first public speech here, “We have no prescription for Hong Kong’s electoral process — one of the fundamental precepts of democracy is that the people themselves have a full say in how their systems work.”
An electoral committee of just 1,200 people, mainly business leaders and others with financial and personal ties to Beijing, now chooses the chief executive of the territory, which has retained considerable autonomy since Britain returned it to Chinese rule in 1997. 

Beijing authorities have said universal suffrage might be granted in elections for the next chief executive in 2017 and for the legislature in 2020.
An active debate has already emerged in Hong Kong over whether the general public should be allowed to nominate candidates for chief executive or whether a nominating committee should control who can appear on the ballot.

Democracy advocates fear that some version of the current electoral committee could end up as a nominating committee and limit eligibility to allies of the Chinese Communist Party.
Pro-Communist media organizations have accused Mr. Hart, like his predecessors, of intervening in China’s internal affairs merely by commenting on any aspect of Hong Kong politics, and have even suggested at times that the United States seeks to create a base in Hong Kong for subversion. 

Addressing the American Chamber of Commerce here, Mr. Hart said he had no hidden agenda but would comment on issues relevant to American national interests or American core values.