Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng met with Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor in Guangzhou on the 22nd, and asked the Hong Kong government to organize the series of elections this year and next. This is believed to be a possible change in the general election in Hong Kong. Han was the top Communist Party official who supported Lam’s amendment to the “Send China Evil Law”, and he made a second trip to Shenzhen to meet with Lam after the outbreak of anti-sending China in Hong Kong in 2019. Each time Han Zheng went south, the conflict in Hong Kong was intensified.
In the afternoon of April 22, Han Zheng, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and vice premier of the State Council, met separately with Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and Macau Chief Executive He Yicheng, who came to attend a meeting of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Construction Leading Group, according to the Communist Party’s Xinhua News Agency.
The report said that Han Zheng stressed that Hong Kong should organize a series of elections this year and next year. He also believes that the decision of the Chinese Communist Party’s National People’s Congress on reforming Hong Kong’s electoral system and the relevant amendments to Annexes I and II of the Hong Kong Basic Law by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress provide safeguards for the implementation of the principle of “patriots ruling Hong Kong”, and that the HKSAR should make good use of the work related to local legislation.
On March 30, the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) amended Annexes I and II to the Basic Law to “reform” Hong Kong’s electoral system. The Legislative Council will have 40 additional seats in the Election Committee, the number of directly elected seats will be reduced to 20, and all candidates will be required to obtain nominations from the five sectors and at least 10 nominations from the Election Committee before they can enter the election.
The election proposal has shocked all sectors. The U.S. criticized the Chinese Communist Party’s move for going against the wishes of Hong Kong people, and for causing Hong Kong people to lose their voices on autonomy. The British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab also criticized the reform system for undermining the freedom of Hong Kong people and clearly violating the Sino-British Joint Declaration.
The Chinese Communist Party has revised Hong Kong’s electoral reform system, setting up numerous barriers and greatly reducing the room for democrats to participate in politics. Many believe this is to ensure that the majority of “patriots” as defined by the Chinese Communist Party, or Beijing’s handpicked candidate for Chief Executive, will not be overturned, and to continue to vet those whom the Chinese Communist Party does not trust in the future. This is also a declaration that Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong and “one country, two systems” have entered history.
According to veteran current affairs commentator Lien Yi-zheng, the CCP will stage a “landlord” and “rectification campaign” in Hong Kong, and the incumbent Chief Executive Lam Cheng, the former Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, and the Chairman of the pro-communist New People’s Party Yip Lau Suk-yee will all be abandoned by the CCP.
He analyzed that the CCP is playing with the system of Hong Kong, and the status of Hong Kong has changed, and it may even become a military base for the CCP to unify Taiwan.
Hong Kong has always been an outpost of power struggle in Zhongnanhai, and Hong Kong and Macao affairs have been controlled by Jiang’s No. 2 figure Zeng Qinghong and Zhang Dejiang, the former member of Jiang’s Standing Committee, and the backgrounds of Han Zheng and Yang Jiechi, who are now in charge of Hong Kong and Macao affairs, as well as Zhang Xiaoming and Wang Zhimin, who left the party not long ago.
After Zhang Xiaoming and Wang Zhimin were transferred, there were personnel changes in the Communist Party’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office and the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government. Some analysts believe that Xi Jinping wants to take the opportunity to extend his hand into Hong Kong, dilute Jiang’s turf, and increase his control.
Veteran political commentator Lin Baohua has told Taiwan media that Hong Kong is in the heart of the power struggle between the Chinese Communist Party, each faction wants the other to make mistakes and reap the benefits, but no matter which faction wins, it is Hong Kong that pays the price.
The Jiang faction Standing Committee member Han is the top Communist Party member who publicly supported Carrie Lam’s amendment to the “Send China Evil Law”.
In June 2019, the largest anti-China campaign in Hong Kong’s history erupted. This was a general outbreak of the continuous erosion of Hong Kong’s freedom since the Communist Party took back Hong Kong on July 1, 1997. Before July of the same year, Han sat in Shenzhen for the second time and met with Lin Zheng to observe the state of affairs in Hong Kong up close. Each time Han Zheng went south, conflicts in Hong Kong appeared to intensify.
But on November 25 of the same year, the results of the Hong Kong District Council elections were announced: a big victory for the pro-democracy camp, which supported the anti-China movement; a big defeat for the pro-establishment camp, which supported the Chinese Communist Party. Of the 452 seats in the 18 districts, the pro-democracy camp won 388 seats, while the pro-establishment camp won only 59 seats.
The results of the Hong Kong District Council elections are a reflection of mainstream public opinion in Hong Kong. However, in late June 2020, the Chinese Communist Party further suppressed Hong Kong’s democrats by forcing the Hong Kong National Security Law. This led to the cancellation of the U.S. special policy for Hong Kong.
On March 4, 2021, Hong Kong, which had ranked first for 25 consecutive years, was removed from the Global Economic Freedom Index released by the Heritage Foundation. Hong Kong’s status as an international financial center is in steep decline, and the Chinese Communist Party’s oppression of Hong Kong is seen as killing the “goose that lays golden eggs”.
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