OpinionHong Kong democracy: Beijing has dashed decades of hopes with radical reforms

Name: China’s top legislative body passes sweeping Hong Kong electoral reforms
Uploaded: 2021-04-01T00:15:13.000Z
Duration: 2 min 34 s
Description: China’s top legislative body passes sweeping Hong Kong electoral reforms

Democratic development in Hong Kong could have been China’s greatest achievement in the city. How would Hong Kong have evolved if Beijing had permitted universal suffrage for the chief executive election as early as 2007?

The recent electoral reforms, which leave little, if any, room for the opposition, mean we will never know

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Cliff Buddle

Published: 8:15am, 1 Apr 2021Updated: 8:15am, 1 Apr 2021

The requirement that electoral reform in Hong Kong must take place gradually has been used to justify holding back democratic development for years. But there is nothing incremental about the radical changes imposed by Beijing on Tuesday. The system has been transformed.

Rather than making progress by ushering in greater democracy, the changes take us back in time. They are designed to ensure the central government’s supporters in the city win elections and dominate political institutions. There will be little, if any, room for the opposition. This is what is meant by “patriots” governing Hong Kong.

Full details of the reforms were not revealed until after they had been set in stone, with the National People’s Congress Standing Committee approving the relevant constitutional changes.

Now, they will be implemented hastily. Numerous amendments to local laws are expected to be approved by a compliant legislature as early as next month. The first elections will take place later this year.

The new system goes even further than expected in creating barriers to entry for any democrat bold enough to stand for election. Nothing has been left to chance.

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China’s top legislative body passes sweeping Hong Kong electoral reforms

This is, tragically, the end of hopes dating back almost 40 years that Hong Kong could become a part of China where people can freely vote for candidates of their choosing and stand in elections for the chief executive and Legislative Council.