Without following the stance, the office holders might face disqualification and a five-year ban on running for re-election.

A bill to “ensure patriots govern Hong Kong” has been endorsed by the executive council and will be tabled in March, the secretary for constitutional and mainland affairs, Erick Tsang, told a press conference on Tuesday, reports The Guardian.

“If you claim to be patriotic and you don’t respect, or you try to sabotage, the basic characteristics of our system – a system led by the [People’s Republic of China] – that would not be acceptable,” Tsang was quoted as saying by the newspaper. “You can’t say: ‘I’m patriotic but I don’t respect that it’s the Chinese Communist party which leads the country’.”

The announcement came a day after a top Beijing official signalled that significant changes would be coming to ensure Hong Kong was run by “patriots” – a clear sign that China intends to no longer tolerate dissenting voices, 23 years after the former British colony was handed over to Chinese rule with a promise it could maintain its own rights and freedoms for 50 years, the newspaper reported.