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SCMP Editorial

Beijing’s overhaul of Hong Kong’s political system is gathering pace. Details of the reforms, to be endorsed by the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, will be released soon. The aim is to have the new system in place by May.
The direction of the reforms, to achieve the central government’s aim of ensuring only “patriots” can govern Hong Kong, is clear.
But questions remain about the precise form the arrangements will take and the extent to which there will be a role for the democrats.
Senior mainland officials met with more than 1,000 business leaders, pro-establishment politicians and community figures over three days this week to discuss the changes. Zhang Xiaoming, deputy director of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, said he was in the city to listen to their views.


We already knew the Election Committee, which has a big majority of pro-establishment members, would be given more power. It now appears the committee will hold the biggest share of seats in an expanded Legislative Council.
The number of directly elected seats is likely to be reduced. All election candidates will be vetted by a new committee to ensure they are sufficiently “patriotic”.
China trying to ‘erode democratic elements’ in Hong Kong, G7 says
The reforms will take us back in time. Directly elected seats, first introduced in 1991, have formed half of the legislature since 2004. The changes will also ensure the pro-establishment camp dominates the Election Committee and Legco.
Many democrats will be left feeling disillusioned and despondent. But there is no doubt the reforms will be made. Officials have promised there will still be a role for the opposition. Now, the focus must be on making the best of the new system.


If there are still to be different voices in Hong Kong’s political institutions, the criteria for who is considered “a patriot” and therefore allowed to stand in elections should be clear and inclusive.
The process should be transparent. The number of directly elected seats in the Legislature should at least be sufficient to ensure Hong Kong people still consider it worth exercising their right to vote.
Reveal of Beijing’s political inoculation plan for Hong Kong looms at ‘two sessions’
Beijing’s reforms are a response to the civil unrest of 2019 and the 2014 Occupy movement. The aim is to “remove all risk factors” to ensure radicals deemed to be a threat to national security cannot gain power.
Clearly, the democrats have lost Beijing’s trust. With the political system being reset, the only way forward is to seek to rebuild that trust between the two sides. It will take time, but work needs to begin now.
Democrats should be open to constructive dialogue with the central government. It is to be hoped there is still room for debate and that Beijing officials will meet with a wider cross-section of the community to discuss the changes.
If bridges are built, the “ultimate goal” of universal suffrage in some form might yet be achieved.


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Hong Kong’s top court reviews law criminalising calls to boycott elections

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Hong Kong electoral changes

Now is the time for the opposition to build bridges not burn them

TOPSHOT - Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam speaks to the press in Hong Kong on March 11, 2021, after electoral changes for the city were voted in by China’s National People’s Congress in Beijing. (Photo by Anthony WALLACE / AFP)

Will democracy have a chance in Hong Kong after Beijing’s sweeping electoral reform?

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam speaks to the press at government headquarters on Thursday. Photo: AFP

Pro-establishment Lawmaker Starry Lee Wai-king attends the DAB (Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong) press conference at the DAB Headquarters in Causeway Bay. 14JUL20 SCMP / K. Y. Cheng

Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po delivers his 2021-2022 budget at the Legislative Council. 24FEB21 SCMP / Edmond So

Electoral reform a time for Hong Kong’s democrats to reinvent themselves

Illustration: Craig Stephens

A woman holds a banner reading “Republic is freedom” during a demonstration in Barcelona in favour of political prisoners and exiles on March 9, after the European Parliament lifted the immunity of three Catalan members of the European Parliament wanted by Spain following Catalonia’s independence attempt in 2017. Photo: AFP

Demonstrators gather outside the Legislative Council building to call for direct elections for the 1995 Legco election, in then British-run Hong Kong. Many early democrats supported reunification with China and were fully prepared to work for democracy within an uncertain post-1997 system. Photo: SCMP

Hong Kong’s electoral reform: is this the end of confrontational opposition, and who decides what’s a patriot?

The concept of ‘patriots governing Hong Kong’ has gained currency and momentum in recent months. Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

View of the empty main chamber at the Legislative Council Complex in Tamar. 28JUL20 SCMP / Nora Tam

Tian Feilong from the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics attends establishment ceremony of One Country Two Systems Youth Forum and seminar on 20th anniversary of establishment of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom. 30APR17 SCMP / Jonathan Wong

FILE PHOTO: Chinese officials and delegates attend the opening session of the National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China May 22, 2020. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins/File Photo

25 November 2019, China, Hong Kong: Election workers count ballots at a polling station during the Hong Kong district council election. Hong Kong's district council election concluded on Monday afternoon as leader Carrie Lam conceded that a landslide win for the pro-democracy camp showed deep unhappiness with the city's leadership. Photo: Miguel Candela/SOPA Images via ZUMA Wire/dpa

***ONE TIME USE ONLY, PLEASE CLEAR THE COPYRIGHTS BEFORE RE-USE - OTUO*** Xia Baolong, head of the State Councils Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office .  Photo: Handout

Opinion


Beijing-imposed electoral reform has left some feeling despondent but there is still an opportunity for dialogue that must be seized



Beijing-imposed electoral reform has left some feeling despondent but there is still an opportunity for dialogue that must be seized.


Hong Kong politics

Legislative Council of Hong Kong (Legco)

Two Sessions 2021 (Lianghui)

National People's Congress (NPC)

Hong Kong political reform

Macau

Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)


Column

Editorial

Now is the time for the opposition to build bridges not burn them

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Beijing-imposed electoral reform has left some feeling despondent but there is still an opportunity for dialogue that must be seized

Beijing-imposed electoral reform has left some feeling despondent but there is still an opportunity for dialogue that must be seized