2021 Hong Kong electoral changes

[3] A new vetting mechanism would also be created to vet every candidate running for the Chief Executive, the Legislative Council and the Election Committee based on the approval of the Hong Kong Committee for Safeguarding National Security according to the review by the National Security Department of the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) whose decision would be final and could not be appealed.

The decision on the constitutional reform framework laid by the NPCSC on 31 August 2014 dashed the hopes of the democracy activists striving for the right to direct elections, which triggered the 79-day Occupy protests.

In the 2016 New Territories East by-election, pro-independence activist Edward Leung received more than 15 per cent of the popular vote despite his loss to the pro-democratic Civic Party's Alvin Yeung.

However, in the summer of 2019, the push of Chief Executive Carrie Lam for the amendment to the extradition law triggered a series of unprecedented widespread protests.

[10] In June 2020, the NPCSC unilaterally imposed the sweeping Hong Kong national security law to criminalise "separatism, subversion, terrorism and foreign interference" which many interpreted as a crackdown on civil liberties, government critics, and the independence movement.

[12] Chief Executive Carrie Lam abruptly invoked the Emergency Regulations Ordinance to postpone the election, citing the recent resurgence of the COVID-19 cases.

However the decision was widely seen as the latest in a rapid series of aggressive moves by the Beijing authorities to thwart opposition momentum and neutralise the pro-democracy movement.

On 11 November 2020, the NPCSC adopted a decision which bars Legislative Council members from supporting Hong Kong independence, refusing to recognise Beijing's sovereignty over Hong Kong, seeking help from "foreign countries or foreign forces to interfere in the affairs of the region" or committing "other acts that endanger national security", unseating the four sitting legislators, Alvin Yeung, Kwok Ka-ki, Dennis Kwok and Kenneth Leung whose candidacies had been invalidated by the returning officers earlier in July.

"[21] In his annual work report to the National People's Congress, Premier Li Keqiang stated that "we will resolutely guard against and deter external forces' interference in the affairs of Hong Kong and Macau.

[34][35] On the other hand, the seats of the traditional strongholds of the pro-democrats in the Second Sector of professions, including Education and Social Welfare subsectors, would be halved.

Up to half of the seats from the subsectors of Engineering, Architectural, Surveying, Planning and Landscape, Education, Medical and Health Services, and Social Welfare would be elected by associations instead of individuals.

[32] The new electoral system was seen to further curb the advantages of the pro-democracy camp, as the opposition usually received 55 to 60 per cent of the popular vote and won more than half of the directly elected seats.

[42] The bill also unveiled the composition of the Election Committee (EC) subsectors, where the individual voting in the pro-democracy leaning professions sector would be largely scrapped as stated in the NPCSC framework.

There were also concerns on the potential conflict of interest of a sitting Chief Executive who would also be the head of the Committee for Safeguarding National Security could end up advising the CERC on the eligibility of a rival candidate.

Legislative Council President Andrew Leung also backed the decision, claiming it would restore normalcy to Hong Kong by establishing a "peaceful and rational LegCo" and minimising unnecessary disputes.

[48] Non-official convenor of the Executive Council Bernard Chan said the move was a "setback" for Hong Kong's progress on democratic development since 1997.

"[51] He criticised the changes to the electoral system that had been in use for the past two decades would narrow the room for the pro-democrats and discourage them from joining future elections.

He believed that the vetting mechanism would be a form of political censorship that would ask candidates to start to compete over who would be more loyal to Beijing, instead of thinking of ideas that could make Hong Kong better.

"[52][53][54] In a statement on 13 March, Raab said that "Beijing's decision to impose radical changes to restrict participation in Hong Kong's electoral system constitutes a further clear breach of the legally binding Sino-British Joint Declaration.

"[58] US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US would continue to "take action against egregious violations of democracy and human rights in Hong Kong.

High Representative Josep Borrell added that "China is consciously dismantling the 'One Country, Two Systems' principle in violation of its international commitments and the Hong Kong Basic Law.

"[62] Japanese Foreign Ministry said in a 12 March statement that Beijing's decision "will further undermine the confidence in the 'one country, two systems' framework, as provided for in the Hong Kong Basic Law and the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration" and Japan "cannot overlook" the major setback to the city's autonomy.

[63] Foreign ministers in the G7 group of nations expressed "grave concerns" at Beijing's move to "fundamentally erode democratic elements of the electoral system in Hong Kong."