A former U.S. diplomat said China’s latest action to strengthen control of Hong Kong will turn the region’s semi-autonomous legislature into something “largely ceremonial.”
“I think what we will see in the coming years is that the legislature … will become a mostly ceremonial organization, similar to the Beijing legislature,” said Kurt Tong, a former U.S. consul general and head of mission at Hong Kong and Macau told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Friday.
Beijing on Thursday approved a draft decision to change Hong Kong’s electoral system. The proposed measures will alter the size and composition of the Hong Kong legislature and electoral committee.
In response, UK Foreign Minister Dominic Raab said in a statement on Thursday: “This is Beijing’s last step in clearing space for democratic debate in Hong Kong, contrary to promises. from China itself “.
Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department condemned the measure and said the changes were “a direct attack on Hong Kong’s autonomy, freedoms and democratic processes.”
The Hong Kong Legislative Council or LegCo.
To Siu Wai | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images
Hong Kong is a former British colony that returned to Chinese rule in 1997. It is governed by a “one country, two systems” framework that promises the city greater autonomy than other cities in mainland China, including China. legislative and independent judiciary.
City leader Carrie Lam said in a statement Thursday that the changes proposed by Beijing are aimed at making sure Hong Kong is ruled by “patriots.”
This “will solve the problem that LegCo makes it all political in recent years,” he said in reference to the legislature. “It will effectively deal with the reckless movements or internal fracture that have broken Hong Kong,” he added.
The Hong Kong legislature “already had limited capacity to draft laws. Now, I think it will have even less capacity to make laws,” said Tong, who is now a partner at consulting firm The Asia Group.
The latest proposed electoral changes come less than a year after China imposed a controversial national security law on Hong Kong, bypassing the city’s legislature. The law followed months of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong that sometimes turned violent.
Tong said Beijing’s goal is to “silence the political opposition,” but “not terribly change the functioning of Hong Kong as an economy.”
That means Hong Kong has so far retained features that made it an international business hub, such as its connection to the rest of the world and a largely independent judiciary, Tong said.
Still, employers are closely monitoring the situation in Hong Kong “with some degree of concern,” even if companies do not leave the city, he added.
“I think national security law has been the biggest concern regarding the judiciary,” Tong said. “There are reasons for concern, but I think people will just have to look at it closely and see what happens.”