Hong Kong leader welcomes changes that would allow Beijing to vet city’s legislators

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam on Wednesday welcomed the changes being brought by Beijing in the city’s electoral system, which aim to ensure that only legislators loyal to China are in control of the former British colony.

"There are loopholes in the electoral systems, there are also flaws in the systems in Hong Kong. I fully understand that this is not a matter that can be addressed entirely by the government,” said Ms Lam after returning from the National People’s Congress (NPC) in Beijing.

"I’m glad that the central authorities have, again, exercised its constitutional powers to help address this problem for Hong Kong," she said.

But Ms Lam refused to reveal what she shared with the central authorities regarding electoral reforms while stating that many pieces of legislation in Hong Kong would need to be amended.

She also refused to confirm whether elections to the legislative council of Hong Kong – scheduled for September 2021 - would be deferred due to the reforms being pushed by China.

According to media reports, China is looking at changing the size, composition, and formation method of an electoral committee that chooses Hong Kong’s leader. It is looking at increasing the overall size of the electoral committee from 1,200 to 1,500, and of the city’s legislature from 70 to 90 seats.

At present, half of Hong Kong’s legislature is directly elected by voters but with the changes that China is bringing it would shrink as the extra seats will be picked by the electoral committee. The changes are expected to be finalised on Thursday by the NPC.

News reports have noted that the aim behind changes brought by Beijing is to ensure that candidates for the legislative council can be checked and only those who are loyal to China and the ruling Communist Party are chosen.

The former British colony was returned to China in 1997 on a promise that the autonomous character of the city would be maintained but it has not been the case. In fact, over the last few years, China has tightened its control over Hong Kong and imposed a strict national security law.

Over the last few months, most of the prominent pro-democracy voices of Hong Kong have either been put in jail or have gone into exile.

The latest changes being pushed by Beijing have been under severe criticism. On 5 March, US State Department’s spokesperson Ned Price, while talking about the changes, condemned the “continuing assault on democratic institutions in Hong Kong.”

Mr Price said the reforms are a “direct attack on Hong Kong’s autonomy, Hong Kong’s freedoms, and the democratic processes, limiting participation, reducing democratic representation, and stifling political debate in order to defy the clear will of the people of Hong Kong and to deny their voice in their own government and governance.”

Additional reporting by agencies