BBC Chinese recently reported that the United Nations Human Rights Committee officially called for the protection of universal suffrage in Hong Kong’s political system. The committee has a working group that includes 18 independent experts who monitor the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Hong Kong signed. All 18 members agreed to the Committee’s position. The UN Committee expressed the belief that it is crucial to protect universal suffrage, especially for the right to vote and the right to establish candidacy. Over the past month, tens of thousands of Hong Kong residents took to the streets to protest Beijing allowing only yes-men to become candidates for the head of the Hong Kong government. A member of the working group, French judge Christine Chanet, said that the Committee does not want to see a filtering mechanism for candidacy. China signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1998 as well.
Source: BBC Chinese, October 23, 2014
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/china/2014/10/141023_un_human_rights_hk