últimas notícias

Existing rules ensure that the council is dominated by lawmakers loyal to Beijing, but a minority of pro-democracy lawmakers has kept a foothold in it. Pro-democracy and pro-Beijing politicians in Hong Kong have said that the security law might be used to disqualify at least some opposition candidates from running in the elections.

On Friday, the United States secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, signaled that the Trump administration would use the September elections to judge whether and by how much to reduce Hong Kong’s special access to American markets. He and other administration officials have said that the pending security legislation shows that China no longer respects Hong Kong’s autonomy.

“We should all watch very closely whether those elections are permitted to take place in a free and fair fashion,” Mr. Pompeo said in a video speech on Friday. “President Trump has made very, very clear to the extent that the Chinese Communist Party treats Hong Kong as it does Shenzhen and Shanghai, we will treat them the same.”

The Chinese government and officials in Hong Kong have asserted that the national security law enjoys broad support in the city, a position that pro-democracy politicians and protesters have contested.

On Saturday, 30 unions and a student group held what they described as a referendum, to gauge their members’ support for a strike in opposition to the law. The unions represented accountants, retail employees, civil servants and bartenders, among other workers.

Organizers set up polling stations across Hong Kong in what was partly an attempt to muster a show of numerical force. The massive street marches last year that demonstrated the breadth of antigovernment sentiment have since dwindled, due in part to the Covid-19 pandemic and increased police pressure on the protests.

The Hong Kong government has fiercely denounced the unions’ referendum, singling out the civil servants’ union in particular for criticism. In a statement on Saturday, a government spokesman called the strike proposal “absolutely unacceptable” and said it would “seriously tarnish” the reputation of the civil service.