China’s central government may be willing to ignore international protests because of its crackdown on Hong Kong, as it considers other actions to tighten its grip on the city, an analyst told CNBC on Monday.
Last week, media outlets, including Reuters and the South China Morning Post, reported that Beijing could be considering changes to Hong Kong’s electoral system that could limit pro-democracy politicians and prevent them from running in local elections.
The reports came at a time when Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Bureau of the State Council of China, said in a mandarin statement that Hong Kong should be governed by patriots who do not violate national security law or challenge the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, according to a CNBC translation.
Xia said one of the reasons Hong Kong saw an anti-China movement was because the city’s top institutions were not entirely run by patriots. One way to ensure that only the most loyal to China rule Hong Kong is to improve the city’s electoral system by closing relevant legal loopholes, he added.
This photo taken on December 19, 2017 shows the flags of China (top) and Hong Kong flying in Hong Kong.
Anthony Wallace | AFP | Getty Images
John Marrett, senior analyst at risk consultancy The Economist Intelligence Unit, said Beijing had already taken several steps to contain the opposition in Hong Kong.
“It is remarkable that they are going much further in proposing these electoral reforms, the details of which we have not yet seen,” he told CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” on Monday.
“But it says something about fears of a subsequent resurgence of political instability and social unrest in the city and speaks more about the lack of concern about the international outcry for Hong Kong,” he added.
Hong Kong is a former British colony that returned to Chinese rule in 1997. The city is governed under the principle of “one country, two systems”, which gives it greater autonomy than other cities on the Chinese mainland, including limited electoral rights.
The Hong Kong government has banned at least 12 pro-democracy candidates from running for the city’s legislative elections – which was postponed for one year until September 2021. The government cited the pandemic as the reason for the delay.
In addition, four opposition lawmakers were dismissed from the Hong Kong Legislative Council in November last year – prompting others to resign in protest, Reuters reported.