The first "patriots only" vote under Hong Kong's new political system was held Sept. 19, to choose members for a 1,500-member Election Committee—although only some 360 of the seats were actually contested. Voting was restricted to some 5,000 individuals representing different professions and industries, chosen under a principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong." Members were vetted by the newly formed Committee for Safeguarding National Security of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, appointed from Beijing. The Election Committee is tasked with electing 40 members of the enlarged 90-seat Legislative Council in December as well as choosing the city's new chief executive next March. The new and more controlled electoral system was adopted by an overwhelming majority vote [7] at the fourth session of the 13th National People's Congress in Beijing this March. (HKFP [10], China Daily [11], China.org.cn [12], Xinhua [13], Kyodo [14], RFA [15])
The Election Committee vote was held on the same day the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU [16]), the city's largest independent labor grouping, announced plans to disband. Founded in 1990 by a group of veteran independent labor unionists, the HKCTU is the latest pro-democracy body to fall as Beijing intensifies its campaign to silence organized voices of dissent in the Special Administrative Region. Several smaller groups have moved to disband [17] since a sweeping National Security Law [18] came into force on June 30. (HKFP [10])
