HONG KONG (Reuters) – China’s planned changes to Hong Kong’s electoral system are needed to close “obvious loopholes” and will protect the city’s international role, Deputy Commissioner of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong said on Tuesday.
Song Ru’an told reporters the planned design of a new electoral system in the global financial hub was “China’s internal affair”.
China’s rubber-stamp parliament, the National People’s Congress (NPC), is expected to approve on Thursday a resolution that will reduce democratic representation in Hong Kong institutions and vet any candidates for “patriotism”.
(Reporting by James Pomfret, writing by Marius Zaharia; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
