BEIJING: China has passed several changes to Hong Kong’s electoral rules that will cut the number of directly elected seats in the territory’s mini-parliament and create a vetting committee to approve candidates for office.
The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) approved the changes, Hong Kong media reported on Tuesday, citing comments from Tam Yiu-chung, the committee’s only representative from the territory.
Under the plan, the number of directly elected representatives to the city’s legislature will fall to 20 from 35 as part of the reforms while 30 seats will be reserved for “functional constituencies” representing various industries. The size of the legislature will increase to 90 from 70 currently.
The Election Committee that currently chooses Hong Kong’s leader will choose 40 representatives, the paper said, adding that the committee would no longer include district councillors.
Chinese authorities have said the shake-up is aimed at getting rid of “loopholes and deficiencies” that threatened national security during anti-government unrest in 2019 and to ensure only “patriots” run the city.
Elections to the territory’s Legislative Council were due to take place last September but the government delayed the poll because of the coronavirus pandemic.
