For 79 days last autumn, thousands of citizens blocked Honk Kong’s main streets.
The Umbrella Movement beginning late 2014 opposed Beijing’s plan for electoral reform, the adoption of which would intervene in how the city is governed.
As it stands, Honk Kong’s government is led by the Chief Executive, chosen by the 1,200-member Election Committee, consisting of individuals and bodies defined in the Special Administrative Region’s constitutional Basic Law.
The Chief Executive nominates principal officials for appointment by Beijing.
The reform proposes that the Committee name three candidates who would then be elected by universal suffrage, by Hong Kong’s five million permanent residents.
The reform’s opponents brand this undemocratic.
They don’t want undue influence over who is a candidate.
Beijing agreed in 1984 that after Britain handed the former colony back to China in 1997, Hong Kong would keep its capitalist system and various freedoms for 50 years.
Today’s Ch
