China faces a “critical and urgent” task to reform Hong Kong’s electoral system, Beijing’s top official for the city said, in the latest sign that authorities are considering major changes in the coming weeks.
Beijing had to reform the city’s electoral system “to ensure that Hong Kong’s governance is firmly controlled by patriots,” Xia Baolong, director of China’s office for affairs in Hong Kong and Macau, said in a speech Monday.
Speaking with the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, Xia said that in order to improve Hong Kong’s electoral system, “relevant legal loopholes under the Constitution and the Basic Law” need to be closed – and it was. until the central government to communicate these changes to the local government.
The comments follow a number of articles and commentary in Chinese state media and are the latest sign that China is considering further curtailing Hong Kong’s already limited democracy, where a committee of 1,200 business and political elites elect the city’s leader and Beijing retains its right of veto. power.
Security law
Beijing plans to limit the influence of opposition groups on the committee that elects the president, take seats from pro-democracy politicians and allocate them to pro-Chinese loyalists, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday, citing people who are familiar with the proposal.
China has taken several steps to eradicate dissent in the former British colony since the sometimes violent protests broke out in 2019, most notably by imposing a sweeping national security law last year.
Beijing also allowed the local government to disqualify lawmakers who were not sufficiently patriotic. All opposition members of the Legislative Council resigned en masse after Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s government used the new rule to expel four lawmakers.
China’s Xi signals more curbs in Hong Kong calling for ‘patriots’
Commenting to Lam in late January, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Hong Kong should be ruled by “patriots” to ensure the stability of the city after unprecedented unrest in 2019.
Lam said at a news conference on Monday that Hong Kong needs Beijing to implement electoral reforms.
“The central government has its power over the political system in Hong Kong,” she said, adding that “electoral rules play an important role in it.”
– With help from Kari Soo Lindberg, Jing Li and Chloe Lo
Updates with report on planned changes in fifth paragraph