The National People’s Congress (NPC, the legislative body of the PRC), adopted a resolution on the reform of the electoral system in Hong Kong. The resolution on “patriotic government of Hong Kong” will virtually completely deprive the region of free elections, writes BBC News.
With the help of the new laws that are planned to be introduced, the central government will be able to promote its own, “patriotic” candidates in the autonomous region and suppress any actions of the opposition. For this, the powers of a special electoral commission will be strengthened – it will be able to resist those members of the city’s legislative assembly who are directly elected by its residents.
2895 people’s representatives voted for the document at the NPC conference, one person abstained, no one spoke out against. The solution is expected to be worked out and implemented in the coming months.
The upcoming election laws are another milestone on the road to the loss of Hong Kong’s autonomy after last year’s protests. The previous one was the introduction of a “national security law”. About 100 people went on trial under it: activists who organized primaries for democratic candidates to parliament are accused of conspiracy to conduct subversive activities.
The Hong Kong National Security Law was adopted in 2020 as a response by the Chinese authorities to protests against another law – on the extradition of suspects and accused of crimes from a special administrative region to the mainland. This sparked new protests and accusations against Beijing of violating Hong Kong’s autonomy and human rights.
Hong Kong returned to China from a lease agreement between it and Britain in 1997. According to the joint declaration of China and Britain, the city was promised broad autonomy for 50 years.