China’s leaders plan to contain the influence of Hong Kong’s opposition groups in a body that selects the city’s top official, removing seats from pro-democracy politicians and handing them over to pro-Beijing supporters, according to people familiar with the situation. proposal.
At an annual legislative session in March, Chinese lawmakers are expected to vote on the proposed changes to the composition of a 1,200-member committee that will choose Hong Kong’s chief executive, people said.
The revisions would drastically reduce, or potentially eliminate, the 117 seats allocated to Hong Kong’s district councilors, a bloc now dominated by opposition groups, they said. Those seats would be given to some of the more than 200 Hong Kong-based members of China’s main political advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, people said.
The plan is part of radical changes foreshadowed by the head of the Beijing office for Hong Kong affairs, Xia Baolong, in a speech on Monday in which he said the Hong Kong executive, legislature and judiciary must include “true patriots “. In his first public speech after taking office in early 2020, Xia called everyone who opposed the governments of China or Hong Kong “destroyers” who should not be able to exert influence in the future.
Xia did not specify any proposed electoral changes, but people familiar with the plans said details of the legislation were being finalized before the opening of the National People’s Congress on March 5, China’s legislature. Chief executive Carrie Lam, who has a low rate of public approval, did not say whether she plans to run for a second five-year term next year.