Hong Kong changes law to slash directly elected council seats, undermining democratic challenges

Hong Kong lawmakers on Thursday passed an amendment to a law to eliminate most directly elected seats on local district councils, the last major political representative bodies chosen by the public, shutting down further democratic challenges in the city.

The changes include slashing the proportion of directly elected seats in the municipal-level organization being from some 90% currently to just about 20% — even lower than the level when these bodies were first set up in the 1980s, when Hong Kong was ruled by Britain.The rest of the 470 seats will be filled by members appointed by the chief executive, rural committee chairpersons and others elected by local committees that are packed with pro-establishment figures.

All incoming councilors will be vetted by a committee to ensure “patriots” are administering Hong Kong.