Photo: Qin Louyue/China News Service via Getty Images
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said Friday that she is postponing the city's legislative elections for a year due to rising coronavirus concerns, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Why it matters, via Axios' Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian: The move is the latest in a rapid-fire series of measures dismantling Hong Kong's democratic traditions.
- After the passage of a draconian national security law last month, Hong Kong residents who openly criticize the government face possible arrest, making it difficult to push back against the further erosion of political freedoms
The other side: Lam claimed the move was strictly a health precaution, despite the fact that a number of pro-Beijing politicians had called for the election to be postponed, stating, "There are absolutely no political considerations in these measures. I’ve been so busy tracking the virus situation in recent days, I hardly have time to see how the election competition is going."