The debate over how Hong Kong’s leader should be elected in 2017 has flared up again. Later this week the local legislature is expected to vote on a controversial plan by the Chinese government — the one that triggered the Umbrella Movement and the lengthy occupation of several major neighborhoods in the city last fall.
The Chinese government proposes that candidates for the position of Hong Kong chief executive be preselected by a handpicked nomination committee. Democrats in Hong Kong argue that this vetting system guts Beijing’s promise to Hong Kongers that they would get to elect their top official by universal suffrage.
When Beijing invokes “one country-two systems” to justify its position, it is gesturing at Hong Kong’s uniqueness while pretending that the territory is just another subordinate municipality of the mainland. But these two systems are too different to belong to the same country, and their relationship must be redefined.
Read Full Article HERE