It's groundless rumor that China's central government would hint a timetable of 2017 to introduce universal suffrage in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), a leading official told Xinhua on Wednesday.

The leading official of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in Hong Kong said that Qiao Xiaoyang, deputy secretary-general of the Standing Committee of the National People 's Congress (NPC), had already made clear the Central Government's stand on a timetable for universal suffrage during a symposium on the constitutional development held last Friday in Southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.

That is, both Hong Kong citizens' support for the government's package proposals on constitutional development and demand for a concrete timetable for universal suffrage deserve respect and should be attached importance to.

The official said the priority is to amend the methods for the selection of the Chief Executive in 2007 and the forming of the Legislative Council in 2008 and the Commission on Strategic Development has also been discussing the issues related to a roadmap and timetable for the universal suffrage.

Any report saying the central government would hint a timetable for universal suffrage is totally groundless, the official stressed.

Source: Xinhua