Washington, March 6,2021: As China prepares to alter Hong Kong’s electoral system, the United States has condemned the continued assaults on the city’s democratic institutions.
Speaking at the regular press briefing, US Department of State spokesperson Ned Price on Friday (local time) said that bringing reforms to Hong Kong’s electoral system is an attack on the region’s autonomy and freedoms and the democratic processes.
“The United States condemns the PRC’s [People’s Republic of China] continuing assault on democratic institutions in Hong Kong,” he said.
He further said, “The reforms to Hong Kong’s electoral system… are a direct attack on Hong Kong’s autonomy, Hong Kong’s freedoms and the democratic processes, limiting participation, reducing democratic representation and stifling political debate in order to defy the clear will of the people of Hong Kong and to deny their voice in their own government.”
Less than a year after imposing the draconian National Security Law, China on Thursday launched a legislative process for drastic electoral system reform in Hong Kong, which could benefit the pro-establishment camp and further smother the political opposition in the city.
China has planned a fundamental overhaul of the city’s normally contentious politics, the New York Times reported.
Zhang Yesui, a senior Communist Party official, announced on Thursday that China’s national legislature planned to rewrite election rules in Hong Kong to ensure that the territory was run by patriots, which Beijing defines as people loyal to the national government and the Communist Party.
