Hong Kong leader warns against protests ahead of reform talks

Hong Kong's leader today warned against fresh pro-democracy protests ahead of the next step in the city's contentious political reform process, as a new official report on the mass rallies sparked widespread anger.
The government will tomorrow launch a second round of public consultation on the process for electing the city's next chief executive.
China has pledged that Hong Kong will be able to choose its own leader for the first time in 2017.
But it ruled in August that candidates will be screened by a loyalist committee -- a decision that sparked more than two months of large-scale pro-democracy protests.

The new consultation will be the first official reform exercise since the authorities cleared the main pro-democracy protest camps in December.
But campaigners are pessimistic that any meaningful proposals will be on the table.

Current leader Leung Chun-ying reiterated the government's hard line today and said any voting system would stick to the framework laid down by China.
"If we really want to implement universal suffrage on 2017, we...Should not do anything that threatens the Hong Kong government or the Central Government," Leung told reporters.
He said that the process must stick to the city's constitution and that "coercive actions that are illegal or disrupt social order" would not change anything.

The public should take a "legal, rational and pragmatic" approach in expressing opinions, Leung added.
However pro-democracy lawmaker Kwok Ka-ki said the consultation would be "a large scale propaganda excercise".
"Those coming from the democratic camp will be able to enter (as candidates), but they will never be able to be selected for election," he told AFP.
"The government will try to create an impression that we have a lot of room to discuss how candidates of different persuasions can enter the race, but the nominating committee will still do the gatekeeping," added political analyst Ma Ngok.
It comes as an official report on Hong Kong's mass democracy protests submitted by city leaders to the Chinese authorities today sparked outrage among campaigners who called it a "rape" of public opinion.

The 220-page report gives a day-by-day summary of events during the rallies which saw tens of thousands take to the streets demanding fully free elections.
The "Report on the recent community and political situation in Hong Kong" was proposed by the government during fruitless talks in October with student protest leaders.