The new committee for screening election candidates in Hong Kong may be the target of foreign sanctions, a well-known Chinese academic has said, as officials prepare to meet in Beijing this week to discuss changes to Hong Kong’s electoral system.

The vetting committee should have at least 20 members and could include retired officials and judges as well as staff from Beijing’s national security office in Hong Kong, said Tian Feilong, the director of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies.

Tian added, however, that he believed committee members could face sanctions by foreign countries.

Meanwhile, the semi-official think tank’s vice president, Lau Siu-kai, suggested that the committee should be composed of fewer than 10 people and should have an odd number of members to ensure that its decisions would have majority support.

Lau also said he expected that the Hong Kong police and Beijing’s Office for Safeguarding National Security would provide assistance to the committee.

In an interview with Now TV, Lau emphasized that the committee was to be established based on the decision of the National People’s Congress and could not be challenged by courts in Hong Kong, which was why he believed the committee’s decisions would also not be subject to appeals.

He added that the central government had raised its standards for Hong Kong’s pro-establishment camp and as such would measure politicians by their abilities, academic qualifications and experience.

Lau said that whether there would still be room for pan-democrats to participate in elections would depend on how their political parties changed and whether they could obtain the central government’s trust.

The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress will meet on Monday and Tuesday to debate reforms to Hong Kong’s electoral system, which, if agreed upon, could be announced after the meeting ends on Tuesday.

An election committee that already selects Hong Kong’s chief executive is expected to be assigned responsibility for selecting up to 40 seats in the Legislative Council, and a new candidate-qualification review committee will determine whether election candidates are sufficiently patriotic to run for seats.

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