At the beginning of March, the annual session of China's National People's Congress took place. The National People's Congress is the country's highest legislator. Draft decisions prepared by the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party formally become law when approved by the National People's Congress.
The 2021 Congress approved China's plans and tasks for the next five years, which Neatkarīgā has already written about, as well as set the directions and tasks of the country's development for this year. Due to the improvement of economic development from the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, economic growth is planned to exceed 6% in 2021. Along with the country's development directions and goals, the National People's Congress approved the reform of Hong Kong's electoral system. The biggest change in the reform says that candidates who are not loyal to China will not be able to take part in the elections. The Hong Kong Electoral Affairs Commission will be able to influence the nomination of members for the Hong Kong Legislative Council in the future.
Immediately after the congressional decision, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell warned China that the EU might take "additional steps" over the decision to change Hong Kong's electoral system to "grant Beijing a veto power on Hong Kong election candidates." The EU High Representative said in a statement that the EU will "pay increased attention to the situation in Hong Kong."
In addition to Josep Borrell, there are criticisms that the changes to the electoral system will destroy the remnants of Hong Kong's democratic opposition, as after the change there will be only politicians loyal to the idea of One China in the Hong Kong Legislative Council.
A system where a person disloyal to the country can become the representative of the supreme legislature is possibly the highest expression of democracy, but in virtually all democracies, only loyal citizens can function in the highest legislative body. For example, in Latvia, the loyalty of legislators was initially ensured by an oath of allegiance (solemn promise). In Latvia, a person who does not swear the oath (or refuses to make a solemn promise) to be faithful to Latvia, committing to observe the Latvian Constitution and laws, cannot become a deputy of the Saeima (Article 18 of the Constitution).
Today, Latvia has an even finer mesh sieve of loyalty. In Latvia, the loyalty of democratically elected and sworn deputies is additionally verified by the Constitution Protection Bureau, which may veto the progress of any deputy in the state or Saeima higher administration if secret and publicly inaccessible information shows the disloyalty of this person. Therefore, the Latvian government has no moral right to interfere in the internal affairs of countries where the intelligence service or any other institution imposes prohibitions on citizens concerning high-level political activity.
There is another criticism. The decision of the National People's Congress to reform Hong Kong's electoral system is interpreted as Beijing's refusal to honor its promise to maintain Hong Kong's internal autonomy for 50 years after Hong Kong's accession to China.
It should be recalled that at the end of the 19th century, when China's central government (imperial government) was weak, the Western colonial powers and Japan forced the Chinese government to sign many biased and colonial treaties. One such agreement was the transfer of Hong Kong to England for 99 years.
Although seizing Hong Kong was colonial and biased, all Chinese governments, both the Republic of China and later the People's Republic of China, complied with the agreement with Great Britain until its expiration. At the end of the deadline, Hong Kong had to become part of China. China agreed with Great Britain that the inclusion of Hong Kong in China (1997) would be based on the principle of "One country, two systems." The transition period was set at 50 years, but China has not made any detailed commitments that should under no circumstances be changed in Hong Kong. In addition, the agreement on the transfer of Hong Kong to China is bilateral and relates to British-Chinese relations. While Britain was part of the EU, Sino-British relations had to be taken into account when developing EU foreign policy. Since Britain withdrew from the EU, the European Union has no reason, even indirect, to judge whether to intervene in Sino-British relations. Unfortunately, Sino-British relations have deteriorated this year, hindering the search for common ground. In early February, the British electronic media regulator Ofcom revoked the broadcasting license issued to the English-language Chinese television news channel China Global Television Network (CGTN). A week later, China's electronic media regulator banned the broadcasting of the British public broadcaster BBC World News.
Whether you like it or not, all British power over Hong Kong ended in 1997. Under international law, Hong Kong, although having broad autonomy, is part of the People's Republic of China and the National People's Congress has sovereign power over all of China, including the autonomous regions and autonomous territories.
It is well understood that some forces, especially the United States, which has set itself the goal of reducing China's economic and international influence, can use reforms in Hong Kong to impose sanctions or restrictions on Hong Kong and China. The US is already using the unrest in Hong Kong to place restrictions on Hong Kong's foreign trade. But it must be understood that such restrictions are primarily to the detriment of the people of Hong Kong and that in Hong Kong such assistance will, in the long run, cause bitterness towards those who seek to meet their geopolitical needs by reducing the living standards of the people of Hong Kong. In the long run, US sanctions against Hong Kong will reduce support for US policy and increase support for a united China.
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