China dismantles role of democracy within Hong Kong

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 on Tuesday 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 top legislature, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, amended Hong Kong’s constitution to pave the way for the changes. The Hong Kong government is now tasked with revising its electoral laws and holding an election.

In the current 70-member legislature, voters elect half the members and the other half are chosen by constituencies representing various professions and interest groups. Many of the constituencies favour Beijing, ensuring a majority in the legislature.

The new body will have 20 elected members, 30 chosen by the constituencies and 40 by an election committee which also chooses the city’s leader.

The committee, which will be expanded from 1,200 to 1,500 members, is dominated by supporters of the central government in Beijing.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam, inset, said at a news conference that the new committee to vet candidates will consist of a few government officials who are also trusted by central government.

She dismissed criticism of the changes and claimed the new measures were an improvement over so-called democracy and was certain that ”we will still have universal suffrage in selecting the chief executive”.