China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) will vote on a decision to “improve Hong Kong‘s electoral system” this Thursday (11), which has been questioned by the outside world as significantly reducing the democratic elements of Hong Kong’s elections and setting back the democratic process in Hong Kong. Hong Kong democrats may be excluded from the election in the future, but on the other hand, the traditional pro-Beijing camp in Hong Kong is ridiculed as “loyal waste. The outside world is watching to see if the Hong Kong Bauhinia Party, founded last year by Chinese born “new Hongkongers,” will become Beijing’s organization for “Beijingers ruling Hong Kong.
China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) will vote this Thursday (11) on a decision to “improve Hong Kong’s electoral system,” which is expected to be passed without a shadow of a doubt, officially changing Hong Kong’s already dysfunctional electoral system. Over the past weekend, officials from the central government frequently met with Hong Kong and Macau CPPCC members and NPC deputies, asking them to support “improving Hong Kong’s electoral system. Vice Premier Han Zheng, who is in charge of Hong Kong and Macau affairs, said at the meeting that the move was to give legal protection to “patriots ruling Hong Kong.
We must take effective and necessary measures under the rule of law to improve the electoral system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and ensure that Hong Kong people, mainly patriots, rule Hong Kong,” Han said.
Beijing’s move to drive back the clock, but the Chief Executive thanked Beijing
The day after she returned to Hong Kong, Chief Executive Carrie Lam held a press conference to thank Beijing for “improving Hong Kong’s electoral system” and said that the procedure for amending the law would be the same as that for last year’s National Security Law, with Beijing taking the lead in making the decision and amending the Basic Law and the Hong Kong government cooperating in its implementation. In other words, Hong Kong people’s opposition and the results of the local consultation, it is difficult to shake the amendment of the law half.
I am very grateful to the Central Government for once again taking up its responsibility at the constitutional level and exercising its central authority to relieve the SAR’s difficulties, following the enactment of the Hong Kong National Security Law last year,” Mrs Lam said. The approach adopted by the NPC this Time, which is consistent with the National Security Law, is a decision plus an amendment, that is, the NPC will first make a decision to improve the electoral system, and then authorize the NPC Standing Committee, to make amendments to Annexes I and II of the Basic Law.”
Carrie Lam: There is no international standard for democracy
Mrs. Lam stressed that the “improvement of Hong Kong’s electoral system” is led by Beijing, is legal and constitutional. She also said that although Article 45 of the Hong Kong Basic Law states that universal suffrage should be achieved, it depends on the actual situation, and that this “improvement” should not be seen as a retrogression, adding that “there is no room for narrowing down the election” and “democracy There is no international standard”.
She said she was not sure whether the Legislative Council election would be held in September this year as scheduled, because the “improved” electoral system will be more empowered to the Election Committee, so that in addition to the Chief Executive election, the Election Committee can also be empowered to “participate in the nomination of all Legislative Council candidates”, and will be re-established in the Legislative Council “to participate in the nomination of all Legislative Council candidates”. And will be re-established in the Legislative Council “a greater proportion” of the seats of the Election Committee.
Hong Kong Parliament to be “NPC and CPPCC”
The details of Beijing’s draft on “improving Hong Kong’s electoral system” have not yet been released, but according to several Hong Kong media reports, the number of EC members will increase from 1,200 to 1,500, and the number of seats in the Legislative Council will increase from 70 to 90.
However, the increase in seats does not mean an increase in democratic elements. The new seats in the EC are expected to be filled by members of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), “leaders of patriotic associations”, and representatives of pro-Beijing organizations. The number of elected seats in the Legislative Council will also be significantly reduced, and will be replaced by members of the Legislative Council elected from the EAC. Since the EAC will also participate in nominating candidates for the Legislative Council, and because of the “eligibility mechanism,” it is expected that most democrats will have difficulty getting into the legislature.
The “loyal waste” is not trusted, “Beijing people ruling Hong Kong” is imperative
But just because Beijing has “perfected” its electoral system to eliminate the pro-democracy camp, it does not mean that the current pro-Beijing camp in Hong Kong can rest easy. On the eve of the opening of the two sessions of the National People’s Congress, pro-Beijing scholar Tian Feilong wrote that the new electoral system would provide more seats for pro-Beijing parties, but also escalate the demands on them, stressing that Beijing needs “not rubber stamps or loyal losers”.
While Hong Kong’s traditional pro-Beijing parties are not trusted by Beijing, a new party formed last year by a number of Chinese-born “new Hongkongers,” the Bauhinia Foundation, is expected to take advantage of the situation and become a new force in Hong Kong politics in the future.
Bauhinia’s chairman has lived in Hong Kong for 20 years and is not fluent in Cantonese
In an interview with Radio Television Hong Kong, Bauhinia Party Chairman Li Shan said that members of Bauhinia Party will strive to participate in the political structure of the Legislative Council, the Chief Executive Election Committee and the government’s ruling team. However, he admitted that he still does not know Cantonese, but stressed that “it does not prevent me from serving the public interest of Hong Kong”, and said that Hong Kong is part of China, and that Hong Kong people should learn Mandarin.
In the interview, he said that the anti-amendment controversy had turned into a “riot”, so he and his like-minded friends set up a “patriotic and Hong Kong-loving political party”, with 13 founding members, although most of them are overseas students, but clarified that it is not what is known as Although most of the founding members are overseas students, but clarified that it is not the “new Hong Kong people party”, “returnee party”, stressed that it is for the service of Hong Kong.
Li Shan also stressed that he is not a member of the Communist Party, describing the color of the Bauhinia Party is “patriotic”.
As early as 1984, the then chief non-official member of the Hong Kong Executive Council, Mr. Chung Sze-yuen, expressed concern when he met with Deng Xiaoping in Beijing: “The future Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong is actually the Beijing people ruling Hong Kong, China does not send cadres to Hong Kong on the surface, but the Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong are all controlled by Beijing, and Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong becomes a name without substance.”
This statement, in the 24th year of the transfer of sovereignty in Hong Kong, may become a prophecy.
Former chairman of the Democratic Party: I hope Beijing does not heavy-handedly strangle the whole Hong Kong
The former chairman of the Hong Kong Democratic Party, Emily Lau, was interviewed by this station, saying that the tightening of the democratic component of Hong Kong’s elections shows that Beijing wants to take action on its own and control the situation. She believes that the change in the electoral system will affect the entire civil society.
Emily Liu said: “Not just the democrats, but the whole society, civil society, not just can not be elected, is not able to speak, can not express, can not demonstrate, do not know the freedom of thought, freedom of religion, academic freedom is still there, you say how horrible.”
She hopes that Beijing will listen to the views of all sides and not “heavy-handedly stifle the whole of Hong Kong,” but she stressed that her own views do not represent the Democratic Party.
Hong Kong current affairs commentator Liu Ruishao pointed out that there is no democratic election in Hong Kong, there was a ray of hope in the past, but since Beijing said “to firmly grasp the overall governance of Hong Kong”, has broken the past commitment to democracy, the overall election in Hong Kong are under the control of the official.
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