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Beijing / Hong Kong (dpa) - Despite massive criticism from abroad, China has passed a law for an electoral reform in Hong Kong.
The 167 members of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress unanimously decided on Tuesday the changes, as the state news agency Xinhua reported.
President Xi Jinping then signed edicts amending the Hong Kong Constitution.
The result of the new rules is that the influence of the opposition on political decisions is significantly reduced.
The committee for the election of the Hong Kong head of government will be enlarged from 1200 to 1500 members.
However, the 117 district councils of the Chinese special administrative region, which almost exclusively belong to the democracy camp, will be removed from the body.
To this end, the Hong Kong delegates of the Beijing People's Congress will be represented in the future.
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In addition, a committee will be set up to review the qualifications and loyalty of candidates.
In the Hong Kong parliament, too, which will be enlarged from 70 to 90 seats, voices critical of Beijing will have significantly less influence in the future.
The decision to change Hong Kong's electoral law had already been approved three weeks ago by the annual meeting of the Beijing People's Congress.
After the security law was passed last year, electoral reform is another blow to Hong Kong's liberal system.
Its purpose is to ensure that the Chinese Special Administrative Region is "ruled by patriots".
Critics had warned that the reform would de facto bury democracy in Hong Kong.
From Beijing's point of view, only those who follow the line of the Communist Party are “patriotic”.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210330-99-23187 / 2