China’s plans for electoral reform in Hong Kong, coupled with the imposition of a security law, amount to a “combination of punches” to quell unrest in the southern city, a top Beijing official said on Friday.
Hong Kong was rocked by massive and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests in 2019 against Beijing’s encroachment on its unique freedoms.
The Chinese government has since cracked down on the opposition, arresting dozens of activists and smothering the street movement with a draconian national security law.
ADVERTISEMENT
On Thursday, it moved to ensure only “patriots” run the city, when an annual rubber-stamp Parliament voted for sweeping changes to Hong Kong’s electoral system — including powers to veto candidates.
The plan was swiftly pilloried by the U.S., EU and Britain, the city’s former colonial ruler which handed control of the territory to Beijing in 1997 under a special “one country, two systems” arrangement.
A Beijing official in charge of Hong Kong policy told reporters on Friday the “chaos” of recent years showed that the city’s electoral system has “clear loopholes and shortcomings”.
ADVERTISEMENT
Alongside the national security law, the move represents “a combination of punches, to... effectively manage the ongoing chaos”, said Zhang Xiaoming, of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office.
The problem in Hong Kong is a “political one”, he said, repeating an allegation that outside forces are fomenting disruption in the financial hub. “It is a contest between a seizure of power and countering the seizure...,” he said.