The Standing Committee of the People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China recently announced its decision on the rules for “universal suffrage” for the election of the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) in 2017. The NPC Standing Committee has decided to allow only two to three candidates to run in the race for the Hong Kong leader. These candidates will have to obtain the support of at least half of the nominating committee members to get on the ballot so as to make sure that only a Beijing supporter who “loves the country and loves Hong Kong” has the opportunity to win the election.
The announcement of such a tightly-controlled framework basically rules out an open election in Hong Kong. “After the announcement of this decision, ‘public nomination’ and ‘international standards’ will no longer be major contention points.”
Source: China Review News, September 1, 2014
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