Debate on Electoral Reform Begins in Hong Kong

Legislators in Hong Kong began a debate on proposed electoral reforms Wednesday, after police made arrests earlier in the week in connection to an alleged bomb plot.

As the debate began, rival protests were kept apart outside the Legislative Council building by lines of police, amid government pleas for peace.

Government supporters chanted “2017, make it happen,” while waving Chinese flags. Anti-government demonstrations drew less protesters than much larger rallies in 2014.

According to a recent survey by the University of Hong Kong, 51 percent of the city's citizens now support the proposed electoral reforms, while 37 percent are opposed.

“This is what the people of Hong Kong really want,” former Hong Kong chief executive Tung Chee-Hwa stated, according to Chinese news agency Xinhua.

He added, “This is a chance for us to move Hong Kong forward on the democratic road.”

Under the proposed changes backed by Beijing, Hong Kong's citizens will be able to directly vote for their next chief executive in 2017.

The chief executive is the head of Hong Kong's semi-autonomous government. Since the city was handed over to China in 1997, the chief executive has been appointed by Beijing's 1200 member Electoral Committee. Now, all Hong Kong residents will be able to vote.

However, candidates for Hong Kong's top job will still be pre-selected by the Electoral Committee – a measure that remains controversial in Hong Kong, but deemed necessary by the government in Beijing. Earlier this year, Beijing's National People's Congress deputy secretary-general Li Fei described the Electoral Committee as "broadly representative" of Hong Kong's society, and said the body is needed to "ensure stability.”

“As long as they give up their biases, the universal suffrage plan...[will be] the best choice for them,” Li stated, according to Xinhua.

To pass into law, the reforms will need the support of two thirds of legislators, which is likely to prove difficult due to fierce divisions in the Legislative Council.

Although protests in Hong Kong have been reduced to a simmer in recent months, Wednesday's debate comes amid heightened security in the city.

Two days earlier, police said they had arrested nine people on suspicion of plotting to manufacture explosives. Although police haven't specifically tied the alleged bomb plot to Wednesday's debate, Police spokesperson Ng Wai-hon did state at least one of those arrested belonged to a “radical group.”

RELATED: What's Really Going on in Hong Kong?