China urged U.S. to drop double standard, deliberates on draft to improve electoral system of the HKSAR

Chinese lawmakers began deliberating a draft decision on improving the electoral system of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) on Friday at the fourth session of the 13th National People’s Congress (NPC).

The United States called China’s moves to change the Hong Kong electoral system a direct attack on its autonomy and democratic processes. China had repeatedly urged Washington to stop meddling with China’s internal affairs, and said the rioting and turbulence in HK last year reveals there are clear loopholes and deficiencies in the current electoral system.

China urged the U.S. to drop its double standard. Following the U.S. Capitol Hill riots in January, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying questioned why the U.S. said HK’s riot is a “beautiful sight to behold” but condemned the Capitol Hill storming as riots and an “attack on democracy.”

Wang Chen, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of The National People’s Congress published the following statement Friday.

“Some foreign countries and external forces, by way of their own legislative bills or administrative means and through their consular agencies and NGOs in the Hong Kong SAR and other channels, blatantly meddled with Hong Kong affairs. They also grossly imposed so-called “sanctions” on the relevant Chinese personnel and flagrantly emboldened and covered those anti-China, destabilizing forces in Hong Kong. These activities seriously jeopardized the constitutional order and the order of rule of law in the Hong Kong SAR. They posed a grave challenge to the authority of the Constitution, the Basic Law and the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong SAR. Such activities put China’s national sovereignty, security and development interests into serious jeopardy and severely disrupted social stability of the Hong Kong SAR. They must be resolutely opposed, and forceful measures must be taken to prevent and defuse risks arising therefrom.”