http://www.ozpolitic.com/forum/YaBB.pl?board=global;action=post;title=StartNewTopic

China has ruled out full democracy for Hong Kong in 2012, ignoring the majority opinion in the former British colony, but said it may pick its leader by universal suffrage at the following opportunity, in 2017.

Full democracy for forming Hong Kong's legislature would follow in 2020, the Standing Committee of China's parliament, the National People's Congress (NPC), said.

Chief Executive Donald Tsang welcomed the ruling, saying it offered an opportunity and that Hong Kongers should shelve their differences and work together to hammer out the details.

But the city's vocal pro-democracy camp, a key voting block in the legislative council, was disappointed at what it saw as yet another delay. It organised a protest that drew a few hundred people to grounds outside the historic legislative building and they then marched in downtown Hong Kong.

However, the NPC's statement that Hong Kong "may" have universal suffrage in 2017 - the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong's return from British to Chinese rule - marked Beijing's clearest indication yet as to when full democracy might finally germinate.

"A lot of people concentrate on the reference to 2017 and think there's hope, but to say you may have universal suffrage in that year doesn't mean it's going to happen ... there's no guarantee that it won't be vetoed again."

Hong Kong's mini-constitution, the Basic Law, promises universal suffrage as the "ultimate aim" but is vague on a date, giving Beijing scope to dictate a glacial pace of progress.

The chief executive is currently picked by an 800 seat election committee stacked in Beijing's favour, and only half of the city's 60 seat legislature are directly elected with the others picked by various business and interest groups.