Although the official registration started at 9:00 a.m. Monday, Hong Kong resident of Chinese citizenship Wang Rudeng arrived at the registration office in Sheung Wan at 8:15.

"Running for the NPC deputy election is an honor and a meaningful mission," Wang held.

Shortly afterwards, Cheng Yiu-tong, chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions, came to the registration office. In a short time, a queue of 20-odd people waited outside the office for registering as contestants for candidacy of HK NPC deputies.

Cheng, who has been elected for three consecutive times NPC deputy, pointed out that since the NPC is the top organ of state power, HKSAR deputies to the NPC not only enjoy the right of participating in the management of state affairs, but also function as a bridge that enhances exchanges between the HKSAR and the mainland, and helps implement the principle of "One Country, Two Systems."

At 9:00 a.m. sharp, the anxious contestants started to enter into the registration office. Within the next half hour, as many as 25 people handed in their registration forms.

"I'm late. I'm late!" said Chairman of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce Tsang Hin-chi on arriving at the office. Tsang, in his late sixties, said he left home early in order to be the first electioneer to reach the registration office, but was held up in traffic jam for more than an hour.

"I hope to do something for Hong Kong and the mainland," Tsang noted.

According to methods for electing HK deputies to the 10th NPC, contestants must have obtained at least 10 nominations for their registration to be effective. A total of 36 deputies will eventually be elected by the 953-member Conference for Electing Deputies of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) to the 10th NPC.

(Xinhua News Agency November 5, 2002)