More than 400,000 Hong Kong people have signed in a campaign to
support the government's constitutional reform package to be voted
on December 21, organizers of the campaign said on Thursday.
Members of the Grand Coalition Concerning Political Reform,
consisting of 11 civilian groups and parties, on Thursday collected
signatures of citizens in the Central District, the financial and
business center of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).
Up to Wednesday, more than 400,000 Hong Kong people had gone to
different sites or logged up to sign their names for the campaign
supporting the constitutional reform plan, said Cheng Yiu-tong,
president of the Federation of Trade Unions (FTU).
The FTU is a member of the Grand Coalition Concerning Political
Reform.
The campaign, started on Sunday, aimed to collect 200,000
signatures over two weeks so as to express Hong Kong people's will
to deal separately with the adoption of the constitutional reform
package and a timetable for universal suffrage.
HKSAR Chief Executive Donald Tsang showed up at a signing site,
thanking citizens for their support.
He said residents' participation in the campaign would remind
lawmakers to recognize and understand the will of the Hong Kong
people.
Noting that a number of opinion polls have shown that citizens
support the package, Tsang said Hong Kong people do not want to see
the city's constitutional development come to a halt.
Having conducted broad consultations, the HKSAR government in
October published the constitutional reform blueprint, which
stipulates ways to select the Hong Kong Chief Executive in 2007 and
formation of the LegCo in 2008.
The constitutional reform plan is a democratic plan and will
help Hong Kong march forward to the final goal of universal
suffrage, Tsang said earlier.
Besides large numbers of citizens, many non-official members of
Executive Council also showed up and signed their names to support
the constitutional reform plan. They included Leung Chun-ying,
Laura Ma Cha, Andrew Liao Cheung-sing and David Li Kwok-po.
Officials also signed the petition, including Financial
Secretary Henry Tang, Secretary for Justice Wong Yam Lung,
Secretary for Education and Manpower Arthur K.C. Li, Secretary for
Home Affairs Patrick Ho, Secretary for the Civil Service Joseph
Wong Wing-ping, Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food York Chow
Yat-ngok, Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works Sarah
Liao Sau-tung, Secretary for Security Ambrose Lee Siu-kwong,
Secretary for Economic Development and Labor Stephen Ip Shu-kwan,
and Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Frederick Ma
Si-hang.
(Xinhua News Agency December 16, 2005)