`The chaos of recent years in Hong Kong shows that the city’s electoral system has obvious loopholes and shortcomings,` Zhang Xiaoming, director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, told
The statement was issued after the Chinese parliament voted in favor of the decision to empower the National Assembly Standing Committee to draft amendments to Annexes I and II of the Hong Kong Basic Law, which is considered `
A Beijing-controlled election committee in Hong Kong is tasked with `selecting a large proportion of Legislative Council members`.
Zhang Xiaoming, head of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, at a press conference in Beijing today.
When asked whether electoral reform would leave Hong Kong parties under-represented in the political system and whether there was still room for moderate opposition activists, Mr. Truong cited the principle of `patriots leading Hong Kong`.
`One unpatriotic politician is too many, but that doesn’t mean they can’t live and work normally in Hong Kong. They just can’t participate in political institutions,` Mr. Truong said.
The US called the Chinese parliament’s move `a direct attack on the autonomy promised to the people of Hong Kong under the Sino-British Joint Declaration`, before London handed over the city to Beijing in 1997.
`These actions leave Hong Kongers without a voice in their government, by limiting political participation, reducing democratic representation, and stifling political debate,` US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on November 11.
The European Union (EU) also said that the decision of the Chinese parliament `will have a significant impact` on Hong Kong, and warned to consider taking additional steps and increase attention to the situation in Hong Kong.
At the press conference, Mr. Truong declared that the problem in Hong Kong was an `internal matter`, repeating Beijing’s accusations that outside forces were plotting to cause trouble in the special zone.