CRI听力:Committee to Decide HK Election Candidates: NPC Decision

China's top legislature has unanimously passed the decision, which says a broadly representative nominating committee shall be formed to choose candidates for the election.

From there, two or three candidates will be chosen to contest the elections for Chief Executive in Hong Kong after obtaining support from at least half the nominating committee.

The NPC decision goes on to say that all eligible electors in Hong Kong will then have the right to vote for any of the candidates.

The Chief Executive-elect then will have to be approved by the central government in Beijing.

The decision by the central authorities has been closely watched since a draft version was handed in by the Hong Kong Chief Executive CY Leung in July.

A group of opponents have threatened to occupy Hong Kong's financial district if Beijing fails to allow for public nominations, citing what they call an "international election standard."

Li Fei, Deputy Secretary General of the Standing Committee of the NPC, says this would go against the Basic Law in Hong Kong, and is only "tailored for the campaigners' own interests and needs."

"If we follow the so-called international standards proposed by a small group of people in Hong Kong, it will create a chaotic society. At this point, they can't even tell us their exact definition of an international standard. As a result, many people in Hong Kong have wasted a lot of time discussing things that are not appropriate and aren't discussing things that are appropriate."

Li Fei says the size of the nominating committee is set at 12-hundred.

Its composition and how it will be put together will be decided by the current election committee of the current chief executive.

The current election committee is made up mostly of representatives of Hong Kong's business, financial and industrial sectors.

Li Fei says Beijing does have a red line when it comes to who will be candidates for Chief Executive.

"The Chief Executive of Hong Kong is the head of both the Hong Kong government and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and has to be responsible to both Hong Kong and the central government. This means the Chief Executive of Hong Kong must subordinate himself to the central government and safeguard sovereignty and national interests of the country."

For CRI, I'm Qizhi.