Qiao said, in accordance with the HKSAR Basic Law and the opinions of the NPC Standing committee members, and with consideration to the opinions of the State Council and the report of the HKSAR Chief Executive, the meeting of chairman and vice-chairpersons of the NPC Standing Committee issued the draft decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Issues Relating to the Methods for Selecting the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and for Forming the Legislative council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in the Year 2012 and on Issues Relating to Universal Suffrage.
Qiao made explanations about the amendments to the methods for selecting the HKSAR Chief Executive and for forming the HKSAR Legislative Council in the year 2012.
He said that according to the Annex I and Annex II of the HKSAR Basic Law, the methods for selecting the HKSAR Chief Executive and for forming the HKSAR Legislative Council can be amended out of real need after 2007, the Law also has relevant articles for the procedures of making such amendments.
In April 2004, the Ninth Session of the Tenth NPC Standing Committee approved the decision on issues concerning methods for selecting the HKSAR Chief Executive in 2007 and forming the Legislative Council in 2008. In accordance with the decision, the government of the HKSAR issued a draft law in October 2005 concerning the same issues, which was not approved by the Legislative Council due to fewer than two-third of votes.
Since then, the HKSAR government has invited wide-range discussion on Hong Kong's constitutional development through the Commission on Strategic Development and issued the Green Paper on Constitutional Development in July 2007 for three months of public consultation.