Asked by reporters on Friday whether local residents who are – hypothetically – lawmakers in Taiwan or Hong Kong could also run in local elections, Secretary for Administration and Justice Sonia Chan Hoi Fan said, “Yes, they can” – due to the fact that both aren’t foreign jurisdictions but integral parts of China.
Chan made the comments when speaking to reporters at the legislature where she attended a meeting of the 2nd Standing Committee which is reviewing a government-drafted amendment bill to the Legislative Assembly Election Law.
The legislature approved the outline of the bill early last week. One of the articles bars residents who are lawmakers or officials of a foreign country from standing as a candidate in local elections.
On Thursday last week, the committee reviewed the bill for the first time, in which one – unnamed – committee member wanted the government to clarify its definition of foreign officials – for instance, whether a local resident who also works as a lawmaker or official in Taiwan would be allowed to stand as a candidate in local elections.
When asked by the media whether a local resident who also works as a lawmaker in Taiwan or Hong Kong would be accepted as a candidate in local elections, Chan replied in the affirmative, adding that whether they will be able to be a candidate in local legislative elections would ultimately depend on the rules in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Chan pointed out that Hong Kong and Taiwan are covered by the One China principle.(Macau News / The Macau Post Daily)
