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Electoral reform plan for Hong Kong will ‘quash independence advocates’: China’s top legislator

蘋果日報 2021/03/09 06:55


Beijing’s plans to alter Hong Kong’s electoral system will provide a legal basis for cracking down against independence advocates and ensure that the city is run by patriots, the chairperson of China’s top legislature told the National People’s Congress meeting on Monday.
Li Zhanshu, who chairs the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, said his committee will put forward a package of legal measures aimed at protecting national security and Hong Kong’s constitutional order.
The NPC is expected to announce major changes to Hong Kong’s electoral system, which will affect how the chief executive and lawmakers are elected, when it concludes its annual session in Beijing on Thursday.
“[The NPC] will safeguard Hong Kong’s constitutional order, combat forces seeking independence, and ensure that patriots administer Hong Kong,” Li said. Legal safeguards will be established to maintain the city’s stability and prosperity, he added.
Commenting on Li’s remarks, Bruce Lui, a journalism lecturer at Hong Kong Baptist University, said Beijing is trying to reshape Hong Kong’s political system, and is empowering the legislature to make changes “more efficiently and ruthlessly.”
The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress will play an increasingly central role, and will be able to impose its will without any procedural hurdles, Lui said.
“[Beijing] doesn’t have to wait until its annual legislative session to set major policies for Hong Kong. It can convene the Standing Committee every two months to make its decisions,” he said.
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