{"id":17930,"date":"2021-03-13T10:21:10","date_gmt":"2021-03-13T18:21:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=17930"},"modified":"2021-03-13T10:21:12","modified_gmt":"2021-03-13T18:21:12","slug":"chinese-legislature-tightens-control-over-hong-kong-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2021\/03\/13\/chinese-legislature-tightens-control-over-hong-kong-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese Legislature Tightens Control Over Hong Kong Elections"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"China's<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

China’s president, Xi Jinping (center), and lawmakers applaud on March 11, 2021, in Beijing after approving a measure that effectively bars dissidents from running for elected office in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MARCH 11, 2021 (pbs.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

by Dan Glaun<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

China\u2019s national legislature has approved a proposal granting Beijing increased control over Hong Kong\u2019s elections, effectively barring political dissidents from running for local office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the direction of the Chinese Communist Party, the National People\u2019s Congress ratified the measure by a near-unanimous vote Thursday. The rule will allow a pro-CCP committee to approve or reject candidates for the city\u2019s legislature, in yet another blow to the limited civil liberties that have distinguished Hong Kong from mainland China for decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The move comes after the CCP-backed government of Hong Kong announced last month that only \u201cpatriots\u201d will be allowed to run for election, effectively preventing pro-democracy activists \u2014 like those who took to the streets in massive numbers throughout 2019 \u2014 from winning power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou cannot say you love the country but you don\u2019t respect [the Chinese Communist Party],\u201d Erick Tsang, Hong Kong\u2019s secretary for constitutional and mainland affairs, told The Washington Post<\/a><\/em> in February. \u201cIt does not make sense.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Thursday, American members of U.S. Congress, including Republican Ben Sasse (R-NE) and Democrat Bob Menendez (D-NJ) criticized Beijing\u2019s latest effort to assert control over Hong Kong\u2019s politics. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused Chinese authorities of trying to \u201cquash\u201d democracy in Hong Kong on Wednesday, ahead of a meeting with Chinese diplomats scheduled for next week, the Financial Times<\/a><\/em> reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs pushed back, comparing activists in Hong Kong to those who overran the U.S. Capitol on January 6 in an effort to prevent the certification of the presidential election results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDifferent definitions of and attitudes towards Riot in #HongKong & Riot in #US Capitol reveal the western #DoubleStandards!\u201d Foreign Ministry spokesman Lijan Zhao tweeted Thursday<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The United Kingdom ruled Hong Kong for over 150 years as part of the British Empire before returning the city to Chinese jurisdiction in 1997. Under its agreement with the UK, China agreed to govern Hong Kong following the principle of \u201cone government, two systems,\u201d allowing the region to maintain its capitalist economy and semi-autonomous local government for 50 years, until 2047.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the CCP began asserting greater control over Hong Kong in the mid-2010s, telling the British government China no longer considered the agreement valid. In 2014, democracy activists launched months of unprecedented demonstrations against pro-CCP changes to Hong Kong\u2019s political system, resulting in hundreds of injuries and arrests. The dispute intensified in 2016, after multiple Hong Kong booksellers who sold literature critical of the Chinese government disappeared, sparking thousands of residents<\/a> to protest against their alleged illegal detention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More recently, tensions escalated into a crisis in 2019 after Hong Kong\u2019s government attempted to pass a law allowing the extradition of residents to mainland China. Fearful that the law would allow Chinese authorities to prosecute political dissidents without the remaining due process protections of Hong Kong law, hundreds of thousands of activists took to the streets in the largest pro-democracy protests on Chinese territory since Tiananmen Square.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The protests evolved into a months-long and increasingly violent conflict, as police used brutal tactics against demonstrators, and militant protesters responded by targeting officers with bricks, incendiary devices and other deadly weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FRONTLINE covered the fight for Hong Kong\u2019s future in the February 2020 documentary Battle for Hong Kong<\/em><\/a>, which followed five young pro-democracy protesters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want to choose our future by ourselves,\u201d activist Agnes Chow told FRONTLINE<\/a> in the film. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chow, 24, was sentenced to 10 months in prison<\/a> in December for her involvement in a June 2019 protest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another protester, part of a hardline segment who call themselves \u201cthe braves,\u201d was filmed shooting arrows at police and argued that violence was necessary for the protest movement to survive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re doing now will be seen by society as f\u2014ing violent,\u201d he told FRONTLINE in the film. \u201cBut if it wasn\u2019t for the \u2018braves,\u2019 the movement wouldn\u2019t have lasted as long.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Chinese government, which passed a new security law covering Hong Kong in June 2020 after protests derailed the local government\u2019s efforts to do so, has described demonstrators as \u201cradicals,\u201d \u201cthugs\u201d and \u201cseparatists.\u201d In January, Hong Kong police arrested 53 activists<\/a> and former legislators under the law, accusing them of illegally participating in the electoral process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And last month, the Hong Kong government announced a broad set of regulations for schools, including the launch of \u201cnational security education\u201d and measures to promote Chinese national identity among the city\u2019s children. Teachers are required to tell students that \u201cas far as national security is concerned, there is no room for debate or compromise,\u201d according to rules<\/a> published by Hong Kong\u2019s Education Bureau.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stream <\/strong>Battle for Hong Kong<\/em><\/a> <\/strong>in its entirety below.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n