Reaction to Hong Kong electotal reforms

A Hong Kong delegate to Beijing's political meetings on Friday said the upcoming reforms to the territory's election system will reduce "radical" and "unconstitutional" members from playing a role in Hong Kong's governance.

Hong Kong's former Secretary for Food and Health, Ko Wing-man, spoke to the Associated Press in Beijing. He is a member of the National Committee of the People's Political Consultative Committee.

Ko said lawmakers who were supportive of or participated in pro-democracy movements that sparked violent protests in the territory in 2019 "will certainly find themselves playing a much less important role" in the future.

The changes are being made ahead of a scheduled general election of the Hong Kong's legislature to be held in September.

Though the elections were originally planned for September 2020, the Hong Kong government last July announced its postponement on public safety grounds.

Earlier Friday, an NPC deputy chairman, Wang Chen, said a Hong Kong election committee controlled by businesspeople and other pro-Beijing figures will be given a bigger role in choosing the territory's leader.

With the largely pro-Beijing election committee nominating all candidates for the legislature, opposition figures could be barred from running in the elections.

The opposition camps were already dealt a heavy blow when four lawmakers were dismissed by the government last year, prompting another 15 to resign in protest.

Still, Ko denied the reforms would prevent opposition parties from participating in the territory's politics.

"For those who still embrace the "One Country, Two System" arrangement and who still embrace the fact that Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region of China, I don't think they will be affected" he said.

Currently, half of the city's 70-member Legislative Council is directly elected by voters. The other half is elected by professional or special interest groups from sectors such as insurance, engineering and agriculture.

The draft changes came after the top Beijing official overseeing Hong Kong, Xia Baolong, declared that only Hong Kong must be governed by "patriots."