News Digest

Hong Kong govt cements support for China’s pre-screening of poll candidates

The Hong Kong government on Wednesday cemented its support for China’s plan to pre-screen candidates for the city’s 2017 leadership election, just weeks after authorities cleared the streets of protesters pushing for greater democracy. Chief Secretary Carrie Lam, in an address to lawmakers, framed the debate about Hong Kong’s future as one about how an existing, Beijing-approved election nominating committee will operate rather than whether the committee should continue to exist. The former British colony was handed back to China in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” formula with the eventual goal of universal suffrage. The Basic Law is Hong Kong’s mini-constitution which allows it wide-ranging autonomy and freedoms not granted in Communist Party-ruled mainland China. The NPC is China’s largely rubber stamp parliament. The protesters had demanded open nominations in the 2017 election, saying the pre-screening of candidates made a mockery of the concept of universal suffrage.

Constitutional development must be built on the basis of the Basic Law and the decision of (China’s) NPCSC (National People’s Congress Standing Committee), otherwise it would only be futile and impractical and the aim of universal suffrage for the CE (Chief Executive) election would only become a ‘castle in the air’.

Chief secretary Carrie Lam

Tensions remain high after the protests failed to win concessions for pro-democracy campaigners. Ahead of the consultation, chief executive Leung Chun-ying warned against further protests, saying Tuesday that “coercive actions that are illegal or disrupt social order” would not influence government policy. Pro-democracy lawmakers said they feared that any apparent concessions in the consultation document would be window dressing, with one describing it as a “large-scale propaganda exercise”.