A joint statement released after Sunday’s election by the foreign ministers of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Britain together with the United States Secretary of State expressed “grave concern over the erosion of democratic elements” of Hong Kong’s electoral system.
“The overhaul of Hong Kong’s electoral system introduced earlier this year reduced the number of directly elected seats and established a new vetting process to severely restrict the choice of candidates on the ballot paper,” it said. “These changes eliminated any meaningful political opposition.”
Australia is right to join with other nations to call out the deterioration of democratic freedoms in Hong Kong. Support for human rights will have greater impact if it is carefully co-ordinated with allies.
But the Australian government’s decision to speak out on this issue has created more friction in the already troubled relationship between Canberra and Beijing. On Tuesday the Chinese embassy in Canberra accused Australia and the other Five Eyes Alliance countries of “recklessly disregarding the facts” and “wantonly” interfering in China’s internal affairs in their criticism of the Hong Kong elections.
“China strongly urges the Australia side to reflect on itself and stop undermining the stability and development of other countries under any pretext,” the embassy statement said.
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Hong Kong is set to remain an irritant in Australia’s relations with China.
But the Hong Kong election was the just latest in a series of setbacks for democracy across the Asia region in 2021.
In February, a military coup in Myanmar reversed years of hard won democratic gains in that nation while in August Afghanistan’s fragile elected government was toppled by a resurgent Taliban. Some scholars warn of a global “democratic recession”.
The acceleration of illiberal trends in our region may be an unwelcome legacy of the COVID-19 crisis.
Hong Kong elections cap bad year for democracy in Asia
Source: Philippines Alive
