Beijing passes new 'patriot' election law for Hong Kong that restricts opposition

China's government has passed a new law that will drastically restrict the right of Hong Kongers to stand for election and reshape the city's parliament, further entrenching Beijing's power over the supposedly semi-autonomous territory.

In a unanimous and unsurprising decision Tuesday, the standing committee of the National People's Congress, China's rubber-stamp parliament, endorsed proposed changes to how Hong Kong lawmakers and the city's leader are chosen. Prior to these changes, Hong Kong's 70-seat legislature was more or less split between directly elected seats and so-called functional constituencies, seats chosen by trade and industry bodies that usually favor allies of Beijing. In theory, opposition parties could win a majority in the body, by taking almost every elected seat and a handful of functional constituencies, enabling them to have a major say in how the city is governed.