The former chief secretary of Hong Kong tells Stefania Palma about the difficulties facing pan-democratic parties in Hong Kong, and defends the city-state's political protesters, saying that universal suffrage is long overdue. "Having served in the civil service for 40 years, I have a particular interest in governance issues. And I don't like what I'm seeing," says Anson Chan, with the same gumption and dedication that has embodied her long involvement in Hong Kong politics. In her current position, as the head of pro-democracy political group Hong Kong 2020, Ms Chan says that she has found it hard to engage in dialogue with the Hong Kong government. The first stage of consultation on the rigid yet - in her opinion - malleable National People's Congress Standing Committee's framework for the 2017 election of Hong Kong's chief executive has been a "sham" she says. Sustaining pan-democratic parties to run in the elections has also become arduous. "The pan-democrats find it extremely difficult to get financial support, which limits possibilities of networking and attracting better people to join the party. Now the pro-Beijing parties have no problem. They have so much money that it's coming out of their ears," says Ms Chan.
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