The National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) will meet in Beijing from January 20 to 22. Hong Kong people will be waiting with bated breath to see whether decisions which have grave consequences for the city will be taken.

For several weeks the news media have been reporting the central authorities are planning to emasculate the Hong Kong electoral system in order to ensure opposition voices will be snuffed out and huge protests which took place in 2019 will never be repeated.

Beijing is also contemplating measures to counteract the British government’s decision to issue Visas to holders of British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) passports at the end of January to allow them to move to the UK to begin their 5 + 1 years path to British citizenship.

The Hong Kong people have not been consulted on either of the above topics and can only glean tidbits from the news media and second-guess what Beijing intends to do. Such high-handedness is scandalous and infuriating.

Before the last NPCSC meeting in December 2020, information was already leaked out that Beijing was looking at ways to amend Hong Kong laws to ensure its favored candidate would be chosen as Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) by the 1,200-member Election Committee. Beijing also wanted to ensure members of the pro-democracy movement will never be able to win a majority of seats in the 70-member Legislative Council (Legco).

What triggered this nervous overreaction was the landslide victory by candidates from the pro-democracy movement in the November 2019 District Council elections. The pro-democracy candidates won 452 out of the 479 seats and seized control of 17 out of 18 district councils. This set alarm bells ringing furiously in the Chief Executive Carrie Lam administration and in Beijing.

To ensure the pro-democracy camp will never be in a position to threaten the rule of the HKSAR administration, Beijing plans to change the law which enables district council members to elect among themselves 117 members to sit on the Chief Executive Election Committee. With the stroke of a pen, the pan democrats’ dream influencing the outcome of the Chief Executive small circle election in March 2022 will be dashed.

To further weaken the power of district council members, the five so-called district council super seats in Legco may also be abolished. These five additional functional constituency seats were created in 2012 at the suggestion of the Democratic Party in an attempt to widen the franchise.

Under that system, only district council members can stand as candidates, and they can only be nominated by district council members, but all voters who cannot vote in the traditional functional constituencies consisting of business and professional groups will be given a vote to select candidates running for the super seats.

Given the devastating results of the 2019 District Council elections, Beijing and its supporters in Hong Kong were determined to change the rules so they can regain the upper hand. Beijing may disqualify district council members, like it disqualified four Legco members last year. Carrie Lam has said the law would be amended to require district council members to swear the oath of allegiance to the HKSAR and the Basic Law. Armed with that, she can move to disqualify district council members deemed to be in breach of the oath.

Laws for electing Legco members to the traditional functional constituencies may also be amended to make it more difficult for candidates from the opposition to get elected. The aim of all these changes is to purge pro-democracy activists from Legco and from the district councils. If the NPCSC which meets later this week were to make such decisions, it would enrage many Hong Kong people, and further alienate a frustrated and disturbed populace.

Another disconcerting item that could be on the NPCSC meeting agenda is retaliatory measures against the British government for issuing BN(O) Visas to Hong Kong people at the end of January. The South China Morning Post reported that Beijing may decide to ban holders of BN(O) passports from serving in the HKSAR administration. Another possible move is to strip people who move to the UK of their right to vote in Hong Kong elections.

Earlier this month, Chairwoman of the New People’s Party and a member of the Executive and Legislative Councils, Regina Ip, said people who make a conscious decision to leave Hong Kong should be asked to make their choice of citizenship – China or a foreign country. This would apply to people who move to the UK or to other countries.

Ip said it may be time for Beijing to end its special treatment of Hong Kong Chinese and disallow dual nationality. She said this could be done after a specified cut-off date. Thereafter, Hong Kong Chinese who acquire a foreign nationality will be deemed to have lost their Chinese nationality. They will also lose the right of abode in Hong Kong and the right to vote.

Due to Hong Kong’s history, millions of people have BN(O) or other foreign passports. This is because they feel no sense of security, either under British colonial rule or HKSAR rule. Therefore, they acquire a foreign citizenship which enables them to bail out when things go wrong.

For many reasons, Beijing has wisely turned a blind eye to this complicated phenomenon. It may change because of the BN(O) saga. If so, it would be a big mistake. The authorities must understand the psyche of the Hong Kong people. They do not want to up stick, but are forced to do so because of the rapidly deteriorating situation, the loss of freedoms, personal safety and the rule of law.

It would be wrong to penalize people who want to find a better future for their loved ones. Instead of forcing the people to leave or punishing them for having such temerity, the powers should help Hong Kong rediscover its former glory, so that the people can live in a free, safe and vibrant city, underpinned by the rule of law and an independent judiciary. This may be wishful thinking, yet it is the ardent desire of many Hong Kong people who have worked so hard to build up this city, and now they see it being destroyed before their very eyes.

(Emily Lau, Chairperson, International Affairs Committee of the Democratic Party)

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