China Plans to reform Hong Kong Electoral system

Photo: AFP

China plans to reform the electoral system of Hong Kong to make sure that only "patriots are in charge" of the former British colony.

At the annual meeting of China's Parliament, the legislator urged the necessity to change the electoral system of the former British Colony.

The Secretary-General of the National People's Congress, Wang Chen said, "We're looking to create a democratic process with Hong Kong characteristics."

He said that the reform is essential in "perfecting" the one country- two system framework of the city.

Ahead of the meeting, Zhang Yesui, a spokesman for the NPC, focused that the parliament had the constitutional power to “improve” Hong Kong’s system and that the electoral structure needed to fully implement the principle of “patriots governing Hong Kong”.

Friday's proposal to change Hong Kong's electoral reform will be discussed in the coming week, starting Friday.

Beijing plans to increase the seats of the city's legislature from 70 to 90. Currently, half of the legislature is directly elected, a figure that will likely shrink if the new law gets passed.

In a late-night press briefing on Thursday, the National People's Congress' spokesman Zhang Yesui said Hong Kong's electoral system "needs to keep pace with the times and make improvements".

Publish : 2021-03-05 16:13:00

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