The Chinese government said Thursday it is deeply disturbed by Hong Kong Gov. Chris Patten's proposal to make the British colony more democratic before handing it back to China in 1997.
The Chinese response indicated a heating up in the war of words and wills that began when the blunt-speaking Patten took office in July.In a speech Wednesday, Patten proposed lowering the voting age, increasing the public role in electing legislators and other changes in order to give Hong Kong residents more say in their government before coming under Communist rule.
It was not clear whether Patten will go ahead without Chinese agreement.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wu Jianmin said the proposed changes were obviously "inconsistent with the provisions and spirit of the Sino-British Joint Declaration," under which Britain agreed to return the tiny enclave it seized 150 years ago from the crumbling Chinese empire.
"They will surely present obstacles to Hong Kong's smooth transition and transfer of government," Wu said at a news conference. "The Chinese side is deeply disturbed about this. The Chinese side always maintains there should not be major changes in the current political system in Hong Kong."
Although China's approval is not needed to carry out some of the proposals, defying China could shake the business world's confidence in the territory's future, undermining the economy.
In an example of this effect, the Hong Kong stock market fell more than 60 points in the first 15 minutes of trading because of strong criticism of Patten's speech in Hong Kong newspapers controlled by Beijing. The market rebounded to end the day 33.50 points below Wednesday's closing level.