China passes measures to control Hong Kong elections

Published: March 11, 2021, 3:18 p.m.

China's National People's Congress has approved plans that will allow a pro-Beijing panel to vet all candidates for the Hong Kong legislature. Beijing says the reforms will restore stability following years of protests, and ensure that only “patriots” rule Hong Kong. The British Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, said the move further undermined trust that Beijing would observe its legal obligations under the treaty that saw Britain return the territory to China. Also in the programme: Myanmar's military rulers accuse the ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi of corruption; and what lessons has the World Health Organization learned one year since it described the Covid-19 outbreak as a pandemic? (Image: The closing session of the National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Credit: Epa/Roman Pilipey/Pool)