HONG KONG -- One unintended consequence of the Jan. 30 election in Iraq was that it exposed the hypocrisy and shortsightedness of China's policy toward Hong Kong and reunification with Taiwan. China not only expressed support for the rushed national election in its controlled press; it also donated $1 million in material supplies to help Iraq carry it out.

"Despite ceaseless insurgent activities and a smattering of imperfections in the democratic process, no one can possibly deny that the election was successful and champions the freedom that democracy brings," wrote Ma Xiaolin in the China Daily, which is owned and published by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The election "is designed to bring more people into the decision-making process . . . . (it) follows the historical trend of the world's political democratization."

This article was published even as the CCP continued to refuse to honor its Basic Law pledge to introduce universal suffrage, as early as possible, for Hong Kong elections of the chief executive in 2007 and of the legislature in 2008. The CCP is putting off that commitment to the dim and distant future, perhaps planning to dishonor it altogether. The world's "historical trend" is not apparent here.