Hong Kong’s political elite yesterday began selecting a powerful committee to choose the territory’s next leader and nearly half the legislature under a new “patriots only” system imposed by Beijing.
The territory has never been a democracy — the source of years of protests — but a small and vocal opposition was tolerated after its 1997 handover from the UK.
Huge democracy rallies exploded two years ago and Beijing responded with a crackdown and a new political system where only those deemed loyal are allowed to stand for office.
Photo: AFP
The first poll under that new system — carrying the slogan “Patriots rule Hong Kong” — took place yesterday as members of the territory’s ruling classes cast votes for a 1,500-seat Election Committee.
In December, that committee is to appoint 40 of the territory’s 90 legislators — 30 others are to be chosen by special interest groups and just 20 are to be directly elected. Next year, it is set to pick Hong Kong’s next Beijing-approved leader.
Beijing says the new political system is more representative and would ensure “anti-China” elements are not allowed into office.
Critics say it leaves no room for the pro-democracy opposition, turning Hong Kong into a mirror of the authoritarian Chinese Communist Party-ruled mainland.
“Hong Kongers are completely cut off from electoral operations,” said Nathan Law (羅冠聰), a prominent democracy leader who fled to the UK last year. “All election runners will become puppet showmen under Beijing’s entire control ... with no meaningful competition.”
Ted Hui (許智?), a former Hong Kong lawmaker and democracy advocate who moved to Australia, said Hong Kong’s political system is now “a rubber-stamp game completely controlled by Beijing.”
“It’s more than a managed democracy. It’s an autocracy trying to pretend to be civilized,” Hui said.
In 2016, about 233,000 Hong Kongers were allowed to select the Election Committee.
That figure has now been trimmed to about 4,800 — 0.06 percent of Hong Kong’s 7.5 million population.
Police said 6,000 officers were on standby to ensure that there were no protests or disruptions.
When polls closed on Sunday evening, authorities said the turnout among the select group of electors was 86 percent.
“This is an important election, although the number of people eligible to join is not large,” Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) told reporters, adding that the new system would ensure “anti-China troublemakers” would no longer be able to “obstruct” the government.
In the wake of the 2019 protests, civil society groups have also been prosecuted and dozens have disbanded.
The Confederation of Trade Unions — the territory’s largest pro-democracy labor organization with about 140,000 members — yesterday became the latest, announcing that it would dissolve next month.
MILITARY BOOST: The procurement was planned after Washington recommended that Taiwan increase its stock of air defense missiles, a defense official said yesterday Taiwan is planning to order an additional four PAC-3 MSE systems and up to 500 missiles in response to an increasing number of missile sites on China’s east coast, a defense official said yesterday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the proposed order would be placed using the defense procurement special budget, adding that about NT$1 trillion (US$32,88 billion) has been allocated for the budget. The proposed acquisition would include launchers, missiles, and a lower tier air and missile defense radar system, they said The procurement was planned after the US military recommended that Taiwan increase
POLITICAL AGENDA: Beijing’s cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival events are part of a ‘cultural united front’ aimed at promoting unification with Taiwan, academics said Local authorities in China have been inviting Taiwanese to participate in cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations centered around ideals of “family and nation,” a move Taiwanese academics said politicizes the holiday to promote the idea of “one family” across the Taiwan Strait. Sources said that China’s Fujian Provincial Government is organizing about 20 cross-strait-themed events in cities including Quanzhou, Nanping, Sanming and Zhangzhou. In Zhangzhou, a festival scheduled for Wednesday is to showcase Minnan-language songs and budaixi (布袋戲) glove puppetry to highlight cultural similarities between Taiwan and the region. Elsewhere, Jiangsu Province is hosting more than 10 similar celebrations in Taizhou, Changzhou, Suzhou,
COGNITIVE WARFARE: Chinese fishing boats transmitting fake identification signals are meant to test Taiwan’s responses to different kinds of perceived incursions, a report said Chinese vessels are transmitting fake signals in Taiwan’s waters as a form of cognitive warfare, testing Taipei’s responses to various types of incursions, a report by the Institute for the Study of War said on Friday. Several Chinese fishing vessels transmitted fake automatic identification system (AIS) signals in Taiwan’s waters last month, with one mimicking a Russian warship and another impersonating a Chinese law enforcement vessel, the report said. Citing data from Starboard Maritime Intelligence, the report said that throughout August and last month, the Chinese fishing boat Minshiyu 06718 (閩獅漁06718) sailed through the Taiwan Strait while intermittently transmitting its own AIS
CHINESE INFILTRATION: Medical logistics is a lifeline during wartime and the reported CCP links of a major logistics company present a national security threat, an expert said The government would bolster its security check system to prevent China from infiltrating the nation’s medical cold chain, a national security official said yesterday. The official, who wished to stay anonymous, made the remarks after the Chinese-language magazine Mirror Media (鏡周刊) reported that Pharma Logistics (嘉里醫藥物流) is in charge of the medical logistics of about half of the nation’s major hospitals, including National Taiwan University Hospital and Taipei Veterans General Hospital. The company’s parent, Kerry TJ Logistics Co (嘉里大榮物流), is associated with the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the
RSS