China proposes changes to Hong Kong’s electoral system

Beijing on Friday proposed changes to “improve” Hong Kong’s electoral system – a widely anticipated move as China tightens its grip on the semi-autonomous region.

Prior to the announcement of the proposal, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said at the start of the annual “Two Sessions” parliamentary meeting that the country “would resolutely stand against and deter interference from outside forces” in the city.

The proposed changes include adjusting the size, composition and formation of the Hong Kong Election Committee, which selects the city’s leader or general manager, state media Xinhua said.

Beijing also wants to expand the committee’s function to include electing a “relatively large part” of Hong Kong’s legislative body and nominating candidates for the body, Xinhua said.

Last week, media outlets including Reuters reported that potential changes to Hong Kong’s electoral system would hold back pro-democracy Hong Kong politicians.

Hong Kong is a former British colony which returned to Chinese rule in 1997. The city is governed under the “one country, two systems” principle which gives it greater autonomy than other cities in mainland China, including rights. limited electoral.

Beijing has been criticized internationally – by countries including the United States and the United Kingdom – for undermining the autonomy of Hong Kong promised under the “one country, two systems”.

The proposed changes to Hong Kong’s electoral system came about a year after China circumvented the city’s laws to enact a controversial national security law.

The law’s implementation follows months of pro-democracy protests in the city which at times turned violent. Chinese officials and state media have often said “outside forces” were behind the protests in Hong Kong.

Wang Chen, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, said on Friday that “riots and turmoil” in Hong Kong indicate “clear loopholes and shortcomings” in the electoral system, Xinhua reported.

The National People’s Congress (NPC) is the highest legislature in China.

Chen added that changes must be made so that Hong Kong is ruled only by “patriots”, according to the report.

Witman Hung, a Hong Kong MP for the 13th NPC, told CNBC’s “Capital Connection” that China has always assumed that “Hong Kong people who are patriots” will run the city. Chinese leaders were confident in their ability to rule Hong Kong, he added.

“Nobody questioned it until recently,” he said on Friday. “What we found out was that maybe the hypothesis wasn’t… true.

He said the violent riots as well as the “plans of subversion and secession” were “beyond imagination” 20 years ago.

He also defended China’s right to make changes in Hong Kong, noting that the city’s legal framework and basic law had been adopted by the AFN.

“If you look at this from a case law perspective, I mean it’s perfectly legal and compliant,” he said.

– CNBC’s Abigail Ng contributed to this report.