China sharply cuts elected seats in Hong Kong legislature

Vaccinators killed

ATTACKERS gunned down three women working to administer the anti-polio vaccine in eastern Afghanistan, officials said, a day after authorities launched a new campaign against the disease. The women were killed in two separate attacks in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province. IS militants are suspected.

CHINA has sharply reduced the number of directly elected seats in Hong Kong’s legislature in another setback for the territory’s beleaguered democracy movement.

The changes were announced yesterday after a two-day meeting of China’s top legislature. The Hong Kong legislature will be expanded to 90 seats, and only 20 will be elected by the public. Currently, half of a 70-seat legislature is directly elected.

The move is part of a two-phase effort to rein in political protest and opposition in Hong Kong, which is part of China but has had a more liberal political system as a former British colony. Beijing imposed a national security law on Hong Kong last year and is following up this year with a revamp of the electoral process.

The crackdown comes after months of pro-democracy protests in 2019 that brought hundreds of thousands on to the streets and turned violent as the government resisted the movement’s demands.

“It’s a very sad day for Hong Kong. The election system is completely dismantled,” said former legislator and Democratic Party member Emily Lau.

China’s Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, amended Hong Kong’s constitution to pave the way for the changes.