Beijing To Tighten Control On Body That Decides Chief Exec: WSJ

The Wall St. Journal is reporting (behind paywall) that Beijing is intending to alter the composition of the committee that decides on who should serve as Hong Kong's chief executive.

• WSJ reports that Chinese lawmakers will vote in March on plans to reduce or eliminate the 117 seats assigned to Hong Kong district councilors (some of whom are from pro-democracy groups) on the 1,200-strong committee that decides on the chief executive.
• The re-assigned seats would go to Hong Kong-based members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the highest civilian political advisory body in China.
• The selection of Hong Kong's chief executive was never likely to be derailed by a relatively small number of pro-democracy councilors on such a large committee. However, the move does demonstrate Beijing's willingness to increasingly dominate Hong Kong-based political bodies and organisations even if that garners some international censure.