Beijing:China’s ceremonial legislature on Thursday endorsed the ruling Communist Party’s move to tighten control over Hong Kong by reducing the role of its public in picking the territory’s leaders.
The measure adds to a crackdown against a protest movement in Hong Kong calling for greater democracy. The crackdown has prompted accusations Beijing is eroding the autonomy it promised when the former British colony was returned to China in 1997 and is hurting its status as a global financial centre.
Beijing’s crackdown on Hong Kong has added to irritants in relations with Washington, Europe and other governments that also include trade, technology and the party’s treatment of ethnic minorities.
President Xi Jinping and other leaders sat on stage in front of delegates as they cast votes electronically in the cavernous Great Hall of the People. The NPC has no real powers but the party uses its annual meeting, the year’s highest-profile political event, to showcase government plans and major decisions.
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The NPC also endorsed the ruling party’s latest five-year development blueprint, which calls for stepping up efforts to transform China into a more self-reliant technology creator. That threatens to worsen strains with Washington and Europe over trade and market access.
The NPC focuses on domestic issues but increasingly is overshadowed by geopolitics as Xi’s government pursues more assertive trade and strategic policies and feuds with Washington, Australia and others over the coronavirus, conflicting claims to the South China Sea and accusations of spying and technology theft.
Also Thursday, the country’s No. 2 leaders, Premier Li Keqiang, said economic growth might be faster than this year’s official target of “above 6%” he announced last week, which surprised forecasters who expect an expansion of at least 8%. But he said Beijing is more concerned about firming up its recovery from the coronavirus and keeping growth steady.
China was the only major economy to grow last year while the United States, Europe and Japan struggled with renewed coronavirus outbreaks. Chinese growth accelerated to 6.5% over a year earlier in the final quarter of 2020.
“There may be even faster growth,” Li said at a news conference. However, he said, “we must avert wild swings in economic performance.”
As an anti-virus measure, the premier sat in the Great Hall and talked by video link with reporters at a media centre 6.5 kilometres (4 miles) away. Reporters were required to arrive nine hours in advance to be tested for the coronavirus and wait in hotel rooms for the results.
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Under the changes in Hong Kong, a 1,500-member Election Committee will pick the territory’s chief executive and an unspecified “relatively large” number of members of its 90-seat legislature.