Since Hong Kong's democratic development relates not to some people but all Hong Kong residents, it is important to guarantee balanced participation of all sections of society in process while guaranteeing Hong Kong's prosperity and stability. More importantly, Hong Kong's democratic development does not relate to Hong Kong alone; it relates to the entire country. And following the guidelines of the "One Country, Two Systems", the central authorities have to consider Hong Kong's demands as well the country's overall interests.

The need, therefore, is to actively but prudently develop democracy in Hong Kong. No country or region in the world established full democracy at one stroke. It took decades, if not centuries, for even Western countries to develop democracy. For example, many Western countries, including Britain, once allowed only citizens whose incomes were above a certain level or who owned property to vote or be elected to public offices. In fact, Britain introduced true universal suffrage only in 1928 (although it allowed women aged 30 and above to vote in 1918).

Democratic development has to be based on political consensus reached among different sections of society. The development of democracy in the West has been gradual based on the real situations existing in different countries.

Hong Kong does not have to wait for centuries or decades to see full democracy, but the process should be gradual and steady. The central authorities are rightly concerned about the direction Hong Kong's democratic development takes, because it is not only responsible for Hong Kong's prosperity and stability, but also has to safeguard the entire country's sovereignty and unity.

The author is dean of the law school at Tsinghua University.