HONG KONG—China drew the curtain on decades of adversarial politics in Hong Kong as the national legislature approved electoral changes that would put pro-Beijing loyalists firmly in charge of the city and squeeze opposition groups from elected office.
Thursday’s near-unanimous vote by the National People’s Congress paves the way for China’s top lawmaking body to revamp as soon as next month how the former British colony picks its leader and legislators. The overhaul will give Beijing much greater control over local elections that were meant to be partly democratic—thanks to an effective veto against candidates deemed unpatriotic.
Chinese officials say the changes are meant to close legal loopholes that had allowed anti-China forces to impede governance and incite unrest in Hong Kong, which was rocked by mass antigovernment protests in 2019.
“The decision is very clear-cut,” Premier
Li Keqiang
told reporters after the vote….