China’s national legislature, the National People’s Congress(NPC) now plans to rewrite election rules in Hong Kong to ensure that the territory is run by patriots, which Beijing defines as people loyal to the national government and the Communist Party, read an opinion piece published in The Taiwan Times.

The NPC is expected to give approval to `upgrade’ or `reform’ the Hong Kong electoral system in the ongoing annual session; a move that comes nine months after the imposition of the national security law, read the piece.

The newspaper opinion piece further said the move is an assault on the democratic system of the former British colony and will cast a shadow over the delayed legislative council elections in Hong Kong.

China has since clearly indicated that it intends to undermine the authority of Hong Kong’s local government and ensure that “only patriots” govern the former British colony, reads the opinion piece.

Hong Kong, a former British colony, was handed over to China in 1997, and the Basic Law preserves its autonomy as a Special Administrative Region under the principle of “one country, two systems”.