Hong Kong elections overhaul: pro-establishment lawmakers urge government to require candidates to publicly disclose foreign citizenship

Lawmakers insist that future election hopefuls should reveal any ties to other countries, though the law allows foreign nationals to sit in the legislature and Election Committee

‘Privacy was considered important in the past,’ lawmaker Paul Tse says. ‘But now we should attach greater importance to allegiance and national security’

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Lawmakers at a Legislative Council meeting on Monday called for additional requirements for candidates disclosing foreign citizenship. Photo: Winson Wong

Published: 7:38pm, 19 Apr 2021Updated: 2:07pm, 8 Sep 2021

Would-be candidates in Hong Kong’s future elections would be required to reveal whether they hold foreign citizenship or residency to a powerful new vetting committee, authorities have said, though some pro-Beijing lawmakers argue the rules for such disclosures should go even further.

The issue of candidates’ nationalities was a sticking point during a four-hour meeting at the Legislative Council on Monday, where lawmakers continued their scrutiny of the government’s umbrella bill aimed at implementing drastic changes to the city’s electoral system recently decreed by Beijing.

Under the overhaul, a new committee comprising a handful of principal officials will review the eligibility of every potential candidate for chief executive, lawmaker and member of the 1,500-seat Election Committee, which not only selects the city’s leader, but will also enjoy broader powers.

The high-level group, with help from national security police, will determine whether election hopefuls are sufficiently patriotic in their pledges of allegiance and written declarations to uphold the Basic Law.

During the bills committee meeting on Monday, Alice Mak Mei-kuen, a lawmaker for the Federation of Trade Unions, urged officials to require everyone seeking to run in local elections to publicly declare during the nomination period whether they held a British National (Overseas) passport, any other nationality or residency in a foreign country.