Top Hong Kong civil servants should be barred from holding right of abode overseas, says city deputy to National People’s Congress

A Hong Kong deputy to the national legislature on Tuesday proposed banning senior civil servants and heads of key statutory bodies from holding the right of abode overseas, as senior pro-Beijing figures in the city headed to mainland China for a major annual gathering of the country’s political elite.

Maggie Chan Man-ki’s suggestion under the central government drive for “patriots” to govern Hong Kong coincided with her colleague Ip Kwok-him saying it was likely the National People’s Congress would discuss reforming the city’s electoral systems. Ip said he expected the 117 seats currently reserved for district councillors on a pivotal committee to eventually be scrapped.

“In the 2019 polls, the opposition camp has won the majority of district council seats … If 117 of these district councillors enter the Election Committee, it will affect the chief executive poll, which is our most crucial election,” said Ip, also a Hong Kong deputy to China’s legislature.

“If these people are hostile towards China, or … even advocate Hong Kong’s independence, how can they become election committee members?”

They were speaking as Hong Kong NPC deputies – as well as delegates to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the country’s top advisory body – travelled to the mainland on Tuesday in preparation for the two bodies’ plenary sessions, which start on Friday and Thursday respectively. The political events, known as the “two sessions”, are a window to the central government’s priorities and plans for the coming year.

The politicians headed to Shenzhen on Tuesday for Covid-19 tests, and were set to fly to Beijing the following day. Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor will on Thursday travel to the capital via Shenzhen for the NPC’s opening ceremony on Friday, returning to Hong Kong through the Guangdong city on Sunday.