Beijing 'has right to intervene' in Hong Kong elections: Chinese officials

2017-03-06

Members of Hong Kong's Civil Human Rights Front protest Beijing's interference in local elections, March 6, 2017. RFA

China's parliamentary chief on Monday fired off a warning to Hong Kong that the ruling Chinese Communist Party has the right to reject any leader chosen by the city in forthcoming elections, as democracy activists in the city accused Beijing of interfering in the city's internal politics.

The election, which will be decided by a 1,200 election committee stacked with Beijing's supporters, has been marred by media reports of heavy behind-the-scenes lobbying of members by Chinese officials.

National People's Congress (NPC) chairman Zhang Dejiang told Hong Kong deputies in a closed-door meeting that Beijing is "entitled to ask questions" about the person chosen for the top job in the former British colony, Hong Kong NPC delegate Maria Tam, who attended the meeting with Zhang, told reporters.

She had earlier told reporters that the NPC has the power to step in and appoint a chief executive if it doesn't like the winning candidate, overturning the election result entirely.

Tam said Hong Kong politicians have been warned off engaging in "street politics" during the election.

"Although we can always discuss politics, we cannot look at everything from a political angle. We have to resolve our differences and work together to make Hong Kong prosper," she told reporters.

Meanwhile former chief executive contender and NPC standing committee member Rita Fan said Zhang had told them that "a higher standard" applies when choosing a person for the city's top post.

"The chief executive is a bridge between Hong Kong and the central government," Fan said. "This role is more important than the other top official roles, and it is understandable that the standards are higher and that more is expected of them," she said.

'Right to intervene'

Tam said Zhang had reiterated Beijing's view that it has the right to intervene with an interpretation of the Basic Law that has governed the city since its 1997 handover to Chinese rule.

The democracy and freedom enjoyed in Hong Kong comes along with a set of rules, and anyone who breaches them has to be restrained, she said.

Zhang's reported comments came after the U.S. State Department accused Beijing of encroaching on the city's autonomy.

"The most important human rights problem reported was the central government's encroachment on Hong Kong's autonomy," the State Department report said.

It cited an "unnecessary and unsolicited" interpretation by the NPC standing committee on Nov. 7 that pre-empted the ability of Hong Kong's independent judiciary to rule on a row over lawmakers-elect who changed the wording of the oaths.

The ruling said oaths of allegiance from two pro-independence lawmakers-elect should be regarded as invalid, because they weren't "solemn and sincere," and the pair were stripped of their seats.

"It marked the first time it had issued such an interpretation while a Hong Kong judge was deliberating the case in question, and the second time it had done so in the absence of a request from Hong Kong authorities," the State Department report said.

Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters on Monday that Beijing had lodged an official protest over the report, which he said was "full of unfounded accusations and prejudice."

Behind-the-scenes lobbying

Meanwhile, a pro-democracy group staged a small demonstration outside China's Central Liaison Office in Hong Kong on Sunday amid media reports that Beijing has been lobbying heavily behind the scenes for election committee members to vote for its preferred candidate, former chief secretary Carrie Lam.

Carrying a banner that read "Stop interfering in the election! Give us back our political rights!" the protesters demanded a detailed explanation of lobbying activities by the Liaison Office on Lam's behalf.

"According to our sources, a lot of election committee members have been contacted for lobbying purposes by the Liaison Office, Civil Human Rights Front convenor Au Nok-hin told reporters. "This is far beyond our understanding of its role as set out in the Basic Law."

"This is in clear breach of the Basic Law, and if these things are really happening, then basically there is no more One Country, Two Systems," Au said.

He had earlier told reporters: "I think we are justified in our concerns that the central government is interfering in the elections for chief executive."

Political commentator Liu Ruishao told RFA that Zhang was clearly using "dog-whistle" tactics to throw Beijing's political weight behind Lam's candidacy.

"They haven't formally announced in plain language who they support, but the behind-the-scenes lobbying for Carrie Lam continues behind the scenes," Liu said.

"There are also subtle indicators in the comments made by Zhang Dejiang and the other NPC delegates [about Beijing's preferred candidate]," he said.

Liu said the lobbying is important to Beijing, because contender John Tsang, who also commands a proportion of the pro-Beijing vote, is thought to be less likely to toe the line than Lam if he wins the election.

Growing talk of independence

Premier Li Keqiang warned in his annual work report to the opening session of the NPC on Sunday that notions of independence for the city would "lead nowhere."

His comments were echoed by incumbent chief executive Leung Chun-ying, who was in Beijing in his capacity as a recently appointed parliamentary adviser.

"It's ... a political and constitutional reality that Hong Kong is part of China," Leung said. "We want to make sure that Hong Kong remains a part of China."

Growing talk of independence has coincided with the erosion of Hong Kong's traditional freedoms of speech, publication, and judicial independence in recent years, along with a stalled timetable for full democracy since the failure of the 2014 Occupy Central movement to win concessions from Beijing.

Some 40 percent of young people support the idea, compared with around 70 percent who oppose it across all age groups, according to recent opinion polls.

Reported by Lam Kwok-lap for RFA's Cantonese Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie.

Link to original story on RFA website