Hong Kong passes sweeping pro-Beijing electoral rules, reduces public's ability to vote

Hong Kong's legislature on Thursday passed a bill amending electoral laws that drastically reduces the public's ability to vote and increases the number of pro-Beijing lawmakers making decisions for the city.

The new law empowers the city's national security department to check the backgrounds of potential candidates for public office and sets up a new committee to ensure candidates are "patriotic."

The number of seats in Hong Kong's legislature will be expanded to 90, with 40 of them elected by a largely pro-Beijing election committee. The number of legislators elected directly by Hong Kong voters will be cut to 20, from the previous 35.

The bill, passed by a 40-2 vote, was met with little opposition, as most of the legislators are largely pro-Beijing. Their pro-democracy colleagues resigned en masse last year in protest over the ousting of four lawmakers deemed to be insufficiently loyal to Beijing.

Pro-Beijing lawmakers lauded the bill during the debate on Wednesday and Thursday, saying that reforms would prevent those not loyal to Hong Kong from running for office.

Some pointed out that multiple bills that impact people's livelihoods have been passed with more ease this year compared to in 2020, when pro-democracy lawmakers would at times filibuster or behave disruptively during meetings to stall the passage of bills that they disagreed with.

Lo Kin-hei, the chair of Hong Kong's largest pro-democracy party, said that the party was "unhappy" with the decision to pass the bill.

"We are disappointed with the way that the government is changing the electoral system, because we can see that the representation of the people from Hong Kong in the Legislative Council or in the institution as a whole is much less than before, so this is not something which is good for Hong Kong," said Lo.

He said that his Democratic Party had not yet decided if they would take part in the upcoming legislative elections in December.

U.S. Secretary of State condemns latest Hong Kong change:

Activists, pro-democracy lawmakers arrested or muzzled

The changes to Hong Kong's elections come as Beijing further tightens control over the semi-autonomous city that saw months of anti-government protest and political strife in 2019.

Authorities have arrested and charged most of the city's outspoken pro-democracy advocates, such as Joshua Wong, who was a student leader of 2014 protests, as well as media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who founded the Apple Daily newspaper.

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From the arrest of pro-democracy legislators, to election law changes — Hong Kong has undergone extraordinary change after the implementation of Beijing’s national security law. Two pro-democracy activists, who recently fled to Canada, reflect on China’s tightening grip on the city-state.

China's rubber-stamp parliament in March endorsed changes to the city's electoral system, which then led to Hong Kong's proposals.

They are the latest in a string of moves to ensure people elected to office or serving the city are loyal to Beijing. An amendment the legislature approved earlier this month requires the city's over 400 district councillors — who mainly deal with municipal matters — to take an oath pledging loyalty to Hong Kong and to upholding its mini-constitution.

The oath was previously required only of legislators and government officials such as the chief executive.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong authorities for the second year banned the June 4 candlelight vigil to commemorate the bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, organizers said Thursday.

The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, which organizes the candlelight vigil annually, said in a statement that the police had objected to the event in light of social distancing restrictions, which prohibit large gatherings.

For years, Hong Kong and Macau were the only cities in China where people were allowed to mark the 1989 anniversary of Beijing's crushing of the Chinese democracy movement.