Hong Kong leader praises China's plan to install 'patriots'

Chief Executive Carrie Lam ruled out any need to consult the public on the changes, as they were decreed by Beijing.

Legislation to vet all election candidates in Hong Kong is currently being discussed by China's rubber-stamp parliament and is expected to be adopted on Thursday.

China has said only those deemed "patriotic" will be allowed to stand.

Critics say the radical overhaul of the city's already limited democratic system will demolish what remains of the pro-democracy opposition and ensure only loyalists remain, an argument that Lam rejected on Monday.

"The improvements to the electoral system are not designed to favour someone, it is designed to ensure that whoever is administering Hong Kong is patriotic," Lam, a pro-Beijing appointee, told reporters after returning from the gathering in Beijing.

"The decision is timely, necessary, lawful and constitutional, and the central authorities' leadership and decision-making power are out of question."

Authoritarian China promised Hong Kong would keep a degree of autonomy and certain freedoms when it reverted from British colonial rule in 1997.

The city has a partially elected legislature and China also promised to one day grant residents universal suffrage.