Heavyweight politicians are all in favor of screening candidates for the next Chief Executive election to ensure that the HKSAR's elected leader loves the nation and Hong Kong and is acceptable to the central government.

They also stressed the need for a preliminary poll if too many candidates throw their hats into the ring, but the Hong Kong government said no concrete plans have yet been drawn up.

The flurry of comments came after Yu Zhengsheng, newly-elected chairman of the country's top advisory body, the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said last week Hong Kong must continue to be governed by people who love the country and the HKSAR, and warned against the city being used as a base to subvert the mainland.

Chan Wing-kee, a Standing Committee member of the CPPCC National Committee, was among the first to suggest a "screening" process.

He maintained his stand on Monday, saying the process is necessary to ensure that all candidates are patriotic and acceptable by the central government.

"There should be a primary poll to ensure that the candidates won't work against the central government," Chan said on the sidelines of a CPPCC meeting in Beijing.

He warned that Hong Kong would face a "constitutional crisis" if the central government refuses to appoint the elected leader, but denied that the proposal is aimed at eliminating opposition candidates.

Elsie Leung Oi-sie, deputy director of the Hong Kong Basic Law Committee of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, agreed that the city's leader has to "love the nation and Hong Kong", which she pointed out is the criteria outlined by late paramount leader, Deng Xiaoping.

Leung and Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai, an NPC Standing Committee member, said they are worried that too many candidates might run for the top post, and this would justify holding a primary before a citywide poll.

Leung urged critics not to jump to conclusions as details have yet to be worked out.

Elaborating on the criteria for Chief Executive, Lau Siu-kai, a former key adviser to the Donald Tsang administration, said in a newspaper interview on Sunday that Beijing wants to remind Hong Kong people "not to be so narrow-minded as to look only at whether the election is democratic, but should also consider the interests and power of the central government and the need for national security."

[email protected]