China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee adopted amendments to Annexes I and II of the Hong Kong Basic Law the day before yesterday, formally and vastly altering the electoral system for the Hong Kong Legislative Council. Under the banner of “patriots ruling Hong Kong”, the Standing Committee has restricted Hong Kong’s elections, not only confirming that “One Country, Two Systems” is a slogan only but also ruining Hong Kong’s precious and fragile democratic legacies after its handover. From now on, Hong Kong will have no democracy to speak of. There are two perspectives from which we can explain why the CCP has stifled Hong Kong elections: Xi Jinping’s attempt to build an even more repressive authoritarian system domestically and oppose democratic values internationally.

What we are witnessing is a heavy-handed move made by the CCP in complete disregard of opposition from the international community and Hong Kong society. A direct, systemic and massive restriction on Hong Kong LegCo elections, was mainly the result of a single issue - Hong Kong society’s anti-extradition campaign. As the campaign developed into a social movement for genuine democracy, it directly hit the sensitive nerve of the Beijing authoritarian regime. Since Hong Kong’s handover, the CCP has, on the one hand, used “One Country, Two Systems” as a slogan to soothe the anxiety in Hong Kong society. On the other hand, it was trying to use Hong Kong as a model of “One Country, Two Systems” to win over the Taiwanese people. After Xi Jinping came to power, however, he adopted a more repressive and totalitarian approach domestically, while confronting democratic nations directly with his wolf warrior diplomacy and sharp power in the international arena. It is against such a backdrop that Hong Kong’s democracy and the rule of law in Hong Kong have finally been sacrificed on the altar of the CCP.

The CCP’s drastic amendment to the electoral system of the Hong Kong Legislative Council is highly controversial. First, the seats of the Legislative Council will increase from 70 to 90, but directly elected seats will be cut from 40 to just 20. In the original set-up, 40 of the 70 seats were directly elected, meaning that at least half of the seats had a basis in direct public opinion. In the new set-up, the total number of seats will be adjusted to 90, but only 20 directly elected seats will be retained. Therefore, the Legislative Council will lose its legitimacy as a representation of Hong Kong’s public opinion. Second, all of the 117 district councilors, most of them pan-democrats, will be removed from the Election Committee that is responsible for the election of Hong Kong’s Chief Executive. The representation of pro-Beijing organizations will be increased, and even the organizations making up those “people in white” who attacked citizens with sticks during the Anti-Extradition Movement will have their places in the Election Committee. Pan-democrats will have almost zero influence on Chief Executive elections. Third, a new “Candidate Eligibility Review Committee” will be established to determine the candidacy of anyone running for election. A secret vetting process will be conducted upstream to directly strip dissidents of any opportunities to participate in elections. Other components of the amendment, such as the heightened thresholds for LegCo and Chief Executive elections and the abolition of the proportional representation system to compress the living space of small parties, will also stifle the room for Hong Kong’s democratic, autonomous and pluralistic development.

Democracy and the rule of law in Hong Kong are the core values that are the most worth protecting in the CCP’s “One Country, Two Systems”. However, in China under Xi Jinping’s leadership, human rights and the rule of law have seriously deteriorated, and the ethnic minorities in Xinjiang and Tibet are facing cultural genocide. Democracy and the rule of law in today’s Hong Kong have also been distorted beyond recognition.

Now “Hong Kong people running Hong Kong” has given way to “patriots ruling Hong Kong”, and the Beijing authorities get to define what is meant by “patriots”. Under the new electoral system, both the executive and legislative powers of Hong Kong have become the agents of the CCP. The opposition and democrats’ power to exercise checks and balances has been taken away. Internationally, under Xi Jinping’s wolf warrior diplomacy over the past few years, the CCP has used his sharp power to influence and interfere with the development of democracy and human rights in other countries. This has resulted in a global containment of the CCP by democracies around the world. Given such an international atmosphere, the CCP’s even more repressive rule of Xinjiang and Hong Kong is in fact a way to embolden itself. The CCP will not yield to international opposition. Instead, it will redouble its efforts and go to even greater lengths to destroy the fundamental human rights and autonomy of the Uyghurs and Hong Kong people. The CCP claims to the outside world that “we cannot listen to someone just because he has a bigger fist”. But it is using its fists to suppress dissidents internally and intimidate neighboring countries - especially Taiwan - externally. Today’s Hong Kong is the victim of such ruthlessness and hegemonic mentality. There might not be much that democratic countries can do apart from lending their support to those democrats who are being persecuted. However, democratic countries cannot connive at the CCP’s continued expansion of its hegemony, its attacks on human rights and its strangulation of democracy for some short-term economic interests. Only when the international community is united and puts greater pressure on the CCP’s assaults on two universal values - democracy and human rights - be stopped.

Click here for Chinese version

We invite you to join the conversation by submitting columns to our opinion section: [email protected]

Apple Daily reserves the right to refuse, abridge, alter or edit guest opinion columns for accuracy, length, clarity, and style, and the right to withdraw and withhold columns based on the discretion of our editorial page editors.

The opinions of the writers do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editorial board.

---------------------------------

Apple Daily’s all-new English Edition is now available on the mobile app: bit.ly/2yMMfQE

To download the latest version,

iOS: bit.ly/AD_iOS

Android: bit.ly/AD_android

Or search Appledaily in App Store or Google Play