Not All Opposition Figures Will Be Suppressed: CE

Chief Executive Carrie Lam said on Monday that the "need" to change Hong Kong's electoral system is not down to a desire by the authorities to target the pro-democracy camp, and not all opposition figures will have to be "suppressed".

Lam's comment came after Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office chief Xia Baolong said Beijing must spearhead political reform in the territory to make sure that only those who are "staunch patriots" are in governance.

The CE said requiring those ruling Hong Kong to be patriots is not new, and this should cover not only the chief executive and the cabinet, but also the legislature, judiciary, civil service and district councils.

She denied the suggestion that electoral changes would be designed to weaken the pro-democracy camp, adding that people who will be "suppressed" are those who advocate independence, "push Hong Kong into an abyss", or "forget they are Chinese" and collude with foreign governments to hurt the city's prosperity.

"This need to change the electoral system and arrangements in Hong Kong is for one single purpose. It's to make sure that whoever is governing Hong Kong is patriotic," she told reporters.

"It is not about sort of obstructing the development of the pro-democracy parties in Hong Kong, as long as whoever who has that sort of political inclination is not someone who is unpatriotic."

Lam said being as the design of the territory's political system falls outside of Hong Kong's autonomy, the SAR government will cooperate with the central government's work on the reforms. She added, however, that she hasn't got any timetable for when the changes will happen.