China is making one message clear: If you aren’t supportive of China, you aren’t welcome to be part of Hong Kong‘s government.
In a Monday speech, Xia Baolong, chief of Beijing’s office on Hong Kong affairs, said he only wants “patriots ruling Hong Kong.”
The Chinese official signaled the country would impose a set of electoral reforms on the city, though what those reforms would be was left unclear.
“Only in Hong Kong would some people show off their rebellion against their motherland. … Or even use their opposition to the country, the rejection of the [Central Government] and the demonization of their own ethnic group, as election slogans and make an extremely ugly political performance when they swear into office,” Xia said.
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“In our country that adopts socialist democracy, different political opinions are allowed. But there is a red line, that is, [people] are definitely not allowed to harm the country’s fundamental system,” he added.
The National People’s Congress, China’s rubber-stamp legislature, is set to hold its next legislative session in March.
On Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported that during that session, the congress is expected to take away seats from Hong Kong’s district councilors on a body that determines who the city’s chief executive will be. Of the 1,200-member committee, 117 are Hong Kong district councilors. Those seats, which are currently dominated by members of Hong Kong opposition groups, will reportedly be mostly or totally given to the Hong Kong-resident members of China’s top political advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
In June, China introduced a sweeping “national security” law for the city, criminalizing what they consider acts of subversion, secession, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces. The law was written so vaguely that officials have been able to use it to crack down on those who oppose the Chinese regime.
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In November, 15 pro-democracy legislators resigned from the Hong Kong Legislative Council after four of their colleagues were summarily ousted from the body. China’s Standing Committee of the NPC approved a resolution allowing local officials to push members out of the council without going through the local court system.
In 1997, the United Kingdom returned Hong Kong to Chinese control. Under the “one country, two systems” policy, Hong Kong was supposed to maintain a large degree of autonomy from China for 50 years. The U.K. and other Western nations see these recent incursions as a violation of that agreement.
