A largely pro-Beijing committee that elects Hong Kong’s leader would also choose a large part of the legislature, a top Chinese official announced yesterday as part of a major revamp that would increase central government control over Hong Kong politics.
The changes are part of a draft decision submitted on the opening day of the weeklong meeting of the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s ceremonial legislature, which will all but certainly endorse it.
The Election Committee would participate in the nomination of candidates for Hong Kong’s legislature and also elect “a relatively large share” of its members, NPC Standing Committee vice chairman Wang Chen (王晨) said.
Photo: AP
He did not say how many legislators would be chosen by the committee.
Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post newspaper, citing unidentified sources, said it would be 30 seats in an expanded 90-seat legislature.
The committee selected up to 10 members in earlier versions of Hong Kong’s legislature, but has not done so since the 2000 election.
Photo: Reuters
Wang added that the size, composition and selection of the 1,200-member committee would also be adjusted, and Hong Kong’s leader would continue to be elected by the committee.
Currently, half of Hong Kong’s now 70-member Legislative Council is directly elected by voters. The other half is elected by professional or special interest groups from sectors such as insurance, engineering and agriculture.
With the largely pro-Beijing committee nominating all candidates for the legislature, opposition figures could be barred from running in elections.
The draft changes came after Xia Baolong (夏寶龍), director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office in Beijing, said that Hong Kong must be governed only by “patriots.”
In his speech, Wang said that “clear loopholes and shortcomings” in Hong Kong’s electoral system had allowed “anti-China” forces to undermine the overall stability in Hong Kong and jeopardize national sovereignty, security and development interests.
The introduction of the vetting legislation — expected to be approved next week — was quickly interpreted as one of the final nails in the coffin of Hong Kong’s democracy movement.
“If the measures are passed, as I’m sure they will be, then the voice of the opposition will be effectively silenced,” said Willie Lam (林和立), China analyst at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
“This will effectively wipe out any remaining opposition,” he said.
The draft decision to revamp Hong Kong’s electoral system comes after Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement gained traction in the past few years as Beijing tightened its control over the territory.
The action is Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest step to curb dissent in the former British colony following historically large and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019.
In related news, Hong Kong authorities have charged 47 opposition figures arrested on Sunday with “conspiracy to commit subversion” over their roles in the “35+1” primary campaign in July last year, in which they aimed to win an unprecedented majority on the 70-seat Legislative Council.
The government says the campaign — aimed at forcing Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) to resign by voting down her budget — amounted to a subversive plot to paralyze the territory.
A local magistrate judge denied bail to 32 of the defendants late on Thursday, meaning they could remain locked up until trial.
The court granted bail to the remaining 15, only to send them back to jail after prosecutors objected.
“Beijing is so fearful of Hong Kong people that it is not enough to arrest and deny bail to those who participated in the 35+1 campaign, and to require district councilors to pledge allegiance” to the Chinese Communist Party,” said Victoria Hui (許田波), an associate professor at the University of Notre Dame who specializes in Hong Kong politics. “It wants to make sure that it can control all future elections.”
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