As the “two sessions” of the Communist Party of China (CPC) are about to be held, the Hong Kong media are leaking that Beijing will revise the election system in Hong Kong to ensure that all candidates for public office are “patriots”. A few days ago, Xia Baolong, the director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the Communist Party of China, publicly stated that “patriots will rule Hong Kong”, and the outside world is worried that there is little chance for democrats to run in the election in the future.
On Monday (22), Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC), gave a speech at a research conference on “The Practice of Patriots’ Rule in Hong Kong” organized by the National Association for the Study of Hong Kong and Macao, emphasizing the so-called “improvement of Hong Kong’s electoral system”.
He claimed that the right to govern the SAR should be in the hands of the “patriots” and that “we cannot copy foreign electoral systems”. He also blasted Hong Kong’s existing electoral system, claiming that he would effectively prevent “anti-China and rebellious elements” and “political agents of international anti-China forces” from entering the SAR regime.
In his speech, he said that five types of people are not “patriots” and their actions include attacking the Beijing government, advocating “Hong Kong independence”, calling for international sanctions against Beijing and the Hong Kong government, violating the “Hong Kong version of the National Security Law” and “challenging the country’s fundamentals. The “Hong Kong version of the National Security Law” and “challenging the fundamental system of the state”, “not accepting or deliberately distorting the constitutional order of Hong Kong”, etc.
On the same day, the Hong Kong media “Hong Kong 01” reported that the Chinese Communist Party‘s National People’s Congress in March will revise Hong Kong’s electoral system, including the establishment of a so-called “patriotism assessment mechanism” to ensure that This will include the establishment of a so-called “patriotism assessment mechanism” to ensure that “all candidates are patriots”. The reform system involves a wide range of areas, including the Chief Executive Election Committee, the Legislative Council and District Councils.
According to the outside world, Xia Baolong’s public setting on the eve of the “two sessions” may confirm the news that the election system will be revised.
The Chinese Communist Party has proposed the so-called “patriots ruling Hong Kong” since the Time of Deng Xiaoping. Now the Beijing authorities have drawn more red lines for it, which is questioned as a way to block the democratic camp from running in the election.
Hong Kong Central and Western District Councilor Leung Fong-wai told Radio Free Asia that future restrictions will not be limited to the five criteria proposed by Xia Baolong, but may be added to the criteria or red lines, just like the disqualification of candidates in the past. He believes that for those democrats or political parties now, the chances of getting into the gate after running for election in the future will be very small.
However, Radio Free Asia also quoted an analysis that the Chinese Communist Party may spare some of the “fringe” of the democratic camp and keep a “symbolic opposition” in the Hong Kong system.
In the CCP’s political system, the so-called “candidates” at the top of the hierarchy are decided by the government, but the CPPCC is also set up at all levels of government as a vase for the “democratic parties to discuss politics”.
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