BEIJING – China’s rubber-stamp legislature meets this week in the Communist Party’s biggest political set-piece of the year, with speculation that Beijing will use the event to further tighten the noose on Hong Kong.
Authorities are working to snuff out dissent in the financial hub after huge crowds hit the streets in 2019 in often violent pro-democracy demonstrations.
During last year’s gathering of the National People’s Congress in Beijing, China introduced a sweeping Hong Kong security law designed to stifle opposition to its control of the city.
Recent comments by officials have fuelled speculation that Beijing will double down during the session, which opens on Friday, with changes to Hong Kong’s limited electoral system that could further neuter opposition.
“Systems must be improved to ensure that the bodies of power in Hong Kong are run by genuine patriots,” said Xia Baolong, the head of a mainland agency overseeing affairs in the territory, according to a report from state news agency Xinhua.
State media has also reported that “electoral loopholes” will be plugged to make sure that only those loyal to Beijing govern Hong Kong.
Congress legislation to that effect is likely to bring the mainland another step closer to “complete control over who rules Hong Kong, from top to bottom”, said University of Toronto political scientist Diana Fu.
“Beijing’s rhetoric about having ‘patriots’ run Hong Kong is a not-so-subtle signal to the pro-democracy camp that they should prepare to clear out or be cleared out.”
Hong Kong’s limited electoral system appeared in the cross-hairs of the Communist Party when pro-democracy candidates won local council elections in a landslide, a major rebuke to China.
The session will open less than a week after dozens of activists were arrested for subversion after organising a primary election that was intended to offer united opposition to establishment parties.
The round-up has left the pro-democracy camp in tatters. – AFP, March 3, 2021
