Central Govt Plans To 'improve' CE Election System

Beijing is planning to change the Chief Executive election mechanism in Hong Kong and has vowed to "improve the legal system" of the SAR to "safeguard national security".

The director of the Hong Kong, Macau and Basic Law Commission, Shen Chunyao, said Hong Kong was an important topic at the four-day plenum of the Communist Party chaired by President Xi Jinping that ended in Beijing on Thursday.

Shen said the party leaders discussed ways "to improve the mechanism of appointing and removing the Chief Executive and key officials of the Special Administrative Region by the central government".

The legal system of the city will also be improved to "safeguard national security", he said, without providing more details.

The meeting of the party elite have also decided to step up patriotic education as a way to curb youth-led protests.

"We should educate Hong Kong and Macau society, especially public officials and teenagers, about the constitution... and strengthen the national consciousness and patriotism of Hong Kong and Macau compatriots through the education of history and Chinese culture," said Shen.

Shen said party leaders agreed to "further improve the central government's system of governance over the region".

China, he added, will "never tolerate any act that challenges the bottom line of 'One Country, Two Systems', never tolerate any act that splits the country and endangers national security, and resolutely prevent and contain foreign forces' interference in Hong Kong and Macau business". (AFP)