China adopted sweeping overhaul of Hong Kong’s electoral system: final step to stifle pro-democracy movement

Chinese regime approved sweeping reform of Hong Kong’s electoral system on Tuesday, which includes reducing the number of directly elected parliamentarians and reviewing their political opinions.

The reform, which bypassed Hong Hong’s parliament, was decided directly by Beijing and is the latest step in cracking down on the pro-democracy movement after massive protests.

“President Xi Jinping signed the presidential ordinance enacting the reformChinese official agency Xinhua said. Hong Kong’s 7.5 million residents are still unaware of the content of the new law because its content has not been released.

But Tam Yiu-chung, Hong Kong’s only delegate to the Chinese parliament, introduced the measures. “The reform was unanimously approved by the 167 members of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress,” he told AFP.

With the new law, the number of deputies will drop from 70 to 90, but only 20 of these seats will be elected directly, compared to 35 in the old system.. The majority – 40 – will be chosen by a pro-Beijing committee.

The other 30 will be chosen by certain groups representing industrialists and others who have always been loyal to Beijing.

Anyone who aspires to run for office will be scrutinized for their political views. Tam assured that the review committee would be chosen by the authorities of Hong Kong and the city’s new semi-autonomous security apparatus will have the final say.

“The National Security Committee and the National Security Police will provide reports on each candidate, which will help the Qualifications Review Board,” he told the AFP.

The 11th of March, The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (ANP, Legislative) gave its approval to the controversial reform at the closing session of its annual meeting, in which the project received 2,895 votes in favor, no votes against and one abstention.

Beijing sees in it an “improvement of the electoral system of Hong Kong”, in what constitutes the biggest reform of these mechanisms since the return of the former British colony to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.

Under the Sino-British Declaration of 1984, Beijing has promised to maintain the freedoms that prevail in the territory (unimaginable in mainland China) for 50 years, until 2047, although in recent months they have quickly eroded.

Some Hong Kong analysts and activists see the aforementioned reform as another mechanism to strengthen Chinese government control over the semi-autonomous city and limit Hong Kong’s already tight electoral system.

In 2020, and after a second half of 2019 of massive anti-government protests in Hong Kong, China designed and enforced in the semi-autonomous city an equally controversial national security law that punishes up to life in prison for cases of secession and collusion with foreign forces, among others.

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