'Hong Kong Going Backwards On Democracy'

Former Democratic Party chairwoman Emily Lau said on Monday that Beijing’s planned changes to Hong Kong’s electoral system would erase all democratic progress the city has made over the years.

The National People’s Congress is expected to vote on a bill that would empower the election committee that selects the chief executive to also nominate and pick Legco members. Sources say there are also plans to drop all 117 district councillors from the election committee.

Speaking on an RTHK programme, the former lawmaker said many people in Hong Kong feel that the drastic changes would result in a regression in the city’s political development, even though some pro-Beijing figures claim otherwise.

She said Beijing had never consulted the people of Hong Kong on the matter, not even the pro-Beijing camp, according to media reports.

Lau said her party has always “loved the country and loved Hong Kong”, despite their fight for democracy and their hopes of better safeguarding people’s safety and the rule of law.

But with these imminent changes, she said many people now feel their aspirations have turned into “pipe dreams”.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s sole member of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, Tam Yiu-chung, said the reforms are needed to prevent "black violence" from returning to the SAR, adding that he believes Beijing still wants the SAR to achieve universal suffrage at some point down the line.

He said the electoral overhaul will only involve changes to two annexes of the Basic Law, but not the main text of the mini constitution.