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A statue of the 'goddess of democracy' is seen at the protest site as students occupy Central district during last year's July 1 anti-government rally. Photo: EPA

People’s Daily slams Hong Kong democracy demands as ‘impossible, ridiculous’ ahead of July 1 march

Hong Kong 'does not have the power to determine its political system on its own', says Communist Party mouthpiece

The Communist Party’s mouthpiece has dismissed the key demands of pro-democracy groups in Hong Kong as “impossible and ridiculous”, a day before a planned July 1 democracy march in the city.

The article headlined “How should Hong Kong move on after political reform” was published in the overseas edition of the today, which touched upon the political fallout after a Beijing-decreed electoral reform package failed to pass in Hong Kong’s legislature.

The article’s writer was identified as Wang Ping, a reporter of the .

The failed reform package, which was based on a framework decided last August by China’s top legislative body, would have allowed Hong Kong for the first time to elect its leader by “one man, one vote” in 2017 – albeit through a nomination process that pan-democrats slammed as favouring candidates anointed by Beijing.

“While the recent political reform has ended in Hong Kong, the controversies have not, and the opposition has been making demands such as ‘restarting the political reform [exercise], abolishing the national legislature’s 831 [August 31, 2014] decision, and amending the Basic Law’, which they know are impossible to be satisfied.”

Those demands were made by various pan-democrat lawmakers, and were adopted as the theme of the July 1 march in Hong Kong organised by the Civil Human Rights Front.

The article also dismissed those calls as “ridiculous” and emphasised that Hong Kong “does not have the power to determine its political system on its own”.

“It is a special administrative region in China … and the central government has the decisive power on Hong Kong political reform,” the article read. “It is a blessing, not a curse, for Hong Kong to choose a chief executive who cooperates with the central government.”

All 27 pan-democrat lawmakers, along with a lawmaker representing the medical sector, voted down the reform proposal on June 18, saying that it would deprive voters of a “genuine choice” as it followed Beijing’s August 31 decision that the city must only choose from two or three hopefuls endorsed by the 1,200-strong nominating committee’s majority.

The People’s Daily article also blamed the lack of national security legislation in Hong Kong for “pro-independence activists’ unbridled attitude”.

The July 1 march, organised yearly by the Civil Human Rights Front, will start from Victoria Park at 3pm and end with a rally along Tim Mei Avenue. The main theme of this year’s march is “to build a democratic Hong Kong and regain the future”.

July 1 marks the day in 1997 when Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule after 156 years under the British colonial government, an occasion known as the handover.

Around 3,000 police officers will be assigned to keep an eye on the expected 100,000 people turning out for the march.
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