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Keep off Hong Kong, U.S. told

By P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE, JAN. 11. China has asked the United States to honour its `commitment' to support the "one country, two systems'' policy that Beijing is `implementing' in Hong Kong.

Commenting on the U.S. State Department's reported observations on the evolution of Hong Kong's political system, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Kong Quan, said in Beijing during the week-end that Washington should keep its parallel `commitment' to the "stability and prosperity'' of that territory.

It is not for the first time in recent weeks that Beijing has aired these views. A speech by the U.S. Consul General in Hong Kong, James Keith, on December 11, 2003, and some subsequent comments by the State Department have already come in for scrutiny by China.

In his latest response, Mr. Kong called upon Washington, in categorical terms, "not to do anything harmful to Sino-U.S. ties''. He said Hong Kong's affairs were an `internal' matter of direct concern to China alone. He said China was firmly opposed to the meddling by any foreign government in Hong Kong in "any form''.

Given that the U.S.' comments pertained to such aspects as the demand for universal suffrage and for a direct election of Hong Kong's Chief Executive, Mr. Kong said the territory's political structure "must develop in a gradual and orderly manner''. The Basic Law, which governs Hong Kong's ties with Beijing, and "the actual circumstances'' in the territory were the parameters for the `development' of its political system.

China's call to the U.S. is seen in the context of the Western view of the territory as Beijing's prize possession.

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