Beijing and Hong Kong in standoff after veto

HONG KONG, June 19 (UPI) -- Beijing and Hong Kong are at odds after Hong Kong lawmakers turned down China's plan on selecting the territory's next leader.

Hong Kong members of parliament, after a walkout on Thursday by pro-Beijing lawmakers, rejected Beijing's electoral reform plan that could limit universal suffrage, The Wall Street Journal reported.

That same day, China's state news agency Xinhua said the Hong Kong lawmakers' veto was inconsequential, according to TIME.

The Xinhua bulletin specifically said China's decision on Hong Kong's electoral reforms last August is to remain applicable "despite Hong Kong Legislative Council's veto of the universal suffrage motion."

Still, said Lam Cheuk-ting, chief executive of Hong Kong's Democratic Party, Beijing cannot ignore Hong Kong's parliament since "any political reform has to be approved by the Legislative Council."

Beijing's goal is to limit Hong Kong's vote to a few, pre-screened candidates that fall in line with China's policies.

That measure, though, violates a governing principle agreed upon in 1997, when Britain returned Hong Kong to China. The guiding policy of "one country, two systems" is under siege, according to critics of Beijing, given the increasing influence of China over the former colony's governance.

Hong Kong's Internet space has become a cyber battleground for the tense standoff with China.

Greenpeace Hong Kong took a light-hearted approach to the unfolding events, by posting an image to Facebook showing a dolphin with text that read, "If I wait for Lau Wong-fat I'll be extinct."

Lau is a member of parliament who was ill on the day of the vote. Pro-Beijing parliamentarians said they left the chamber to summon Lau, leaving the vote overwhelmingly in favor of rejecting China's plan.

China's social media platform Weibo has in turn become a site of anti-Hong Kong comments.

"Let those foolish Hong Kongers lose their jobs — then they'll realize who has been feeding them," one user wrote.