China Still Stands By Leader of Hong Kong

China’s leaders declared support Saturday for Hong Kong’s beleaguered chief executive, and President Hu Jintao was quoted as saying that the territory’s people eventually will accept a proposed anti-subversion law that prompted huge protests.

The official New China News Agency said Hu “pledged firm support” for Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa, who was in Beijing to report on the uproar over the anti-subversion bill.

A law on the issue is required in Hong Kong’s Constitution and demanded by the communist government in Beijing. The measure would outlaw subversion, sedition, treason and other crimes against the state, with life in prison for some offenses.

Critics complain that the bill is vague about what exactly constitutes a crime and that it could end up suppressing free speech and assembly. They say the bill will undercut Western-style liberties that Beijing promised to preserve for 50 years after the territory’s return from British rule in 1997.

Half a million people took to the streets July 1 to protest the proposal, and critics urged Tung to resign.

Shaken by the scale of opposition, Tung was forced to delay plans to pass the bill.

Trying to calm the situation, Tung vowed Thursday to listen more closely to public opinion and make a fresh start -- a stance endorsed Saturday by Premier Wen Jiabao.

“I still believe the leadership of Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa certainly can lead the Hong Kong people to overcome the current difficulties,” Wen told reporters.

During a meeting with Tung, Hu “expressed confidence that after undergoing earnest, extensive consultations, the law certainly will win the universal understanding, support and agreement of Hong Kong compatriots,” the official news agency reported.

But the July 1 protest -- a huge event in a territory of 6.8 million people -- was the biggest in Hong Kong since 1 million people there turned out to protest China’s 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

On Saturday, the news agency announced the appointment of a new official as Beijing’s chief representative in Hong Kong. But it wasn’t clear whether the change was prompted by complaints.

Tung said after the meetings that the leaders had discussed ways that Hong Kong’s economy could grow with a new free-trade agreement recently signed with China.