The opening ceremony of the Chinese Communist Party‘s National People’s Congress is shown on street screens in Hong Kong on March 5, 2021.
The National People’s Congress of the Communist Party of China voted yesterday (March 11) to amend Hong Kong’s electoral system, forcing the so-called “patriots to rule Hong Kong,” prompting condemnation from the United Kingdom, Taiwan and Japan, and Secretary of State John Blinken said the U.S. will continue to implement sanctions against those responsible.
The Chinese Communist Party passed the draft bill to amend Hong Kong’s electoral system on March 11 with 2,895 votes in favor, 0 votes against and 1 abstention. The law will increase the number of seats in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council from the current 70 to 90, and the additional 20 seats may be filled directly by members of the Chief Executive Election Committee. In addition, the number of seats in the district councils, known as “super district councils,” will be abolished, and the size of the Chief Executive Election Committee will be increased from the current 1,200 to 1,500 members, of which nearly 100 members of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference may automatically become members of the Election Committee, in order to ensure that “patriots” as defined by the Chinese Communist Party ” have a majority, or that their handpicked CE candidate will not be overturned. The CCP has also set up additional candidate eligibility committees to weed out Hong Kong candidates who are unfit in the eyes of the CCP.
The U.S. State Department last week condemned the CCP and the change in the election system as a direct attack on Hong Kong’s autonomy, freedom and democratic process. Secretary of State John Blinken, appearing at a House hearing on October 10, said he would continue the Trump administration’s actions to sanction those who violate democracy and human rights in Hong Kong. “These are principles and commitments that have been clearly and seriously violated (by the Chinese Communist Party),” he said. “We need to keep implementing sanctions, such as countering those responsible for oppressing Hong Kong.”
Blinken also stressed that “it is important to work with like-minded countries, not just for the U.S. to speak out, but for the world to speak out more and more (for Hong Kong).”
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab also said in a statement, “This is the latest move by Beijing to hollow out the space for democratic discussion, contrary to the commitments made by China [the Chinese Communist Party] itself. It will only further undermine confidence and trust in China (CCP) to meet its international responsibilities and legal obligations as a leading member of the international community.”
Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran, also debating Hong Kong in the British Parliament, said that with Hong Kong democrats in jail, the BBC banned by China, the British ambassador to China reprimanded, and democratic elections cancelled, “however this red line is drawn, it has certainly been crossed by the [Chinese] Communist Party. “”The only way the bullies will listen to criticism is to put it into action.”
The former Conservative Party leader Lain Duncan Smith and Labour MPs Chris Bryant and Andrew Gwynne also called on the British government to stop being all talk and no action at the debate, saying “it’s Time for real action. “
Foreign Office Minister for Asian Affairs Nigel Adams responded that the UK was considering sanctions against individuals “carefully and closely.
Japan’s Foreign Ministry also expressed “serious concern” about the Chinese Communist Party’s changes to Hong Kong’s electoral system, urging it to allow fair elections in Hong Kong. In addition, the European Union said it would be ready to take further measures.
Taiwan Land Commission spokesman Chiu Chui-ching also pointed out that the Chinese Communist Party’s promotion of “patriot rule” is actually a direct attempt by the Chinese Communist Party to rule Hong Kong, which is also known as “patriot rule”. He called on all parties concerned to stop the brutal suppression of democracy and freedom in Hong Kong, to uphold the high degree of autonomy in Hong Kong, and to fulfill their promises to the people of Hong Kong.
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