Plan to let Hong Kong people join Chinese army shelved in wake of extradition bill crisis
- Proposal to let PLA recruit city residents likely to be delayed after wave of protests and military’s fears over ‘unhealthy’ political influences
- Plans to allow people to apply for Great Bay Area civil service posts also left in doubt
The continuing controversy over the Hong Kong government’s controversial extradition bill has left plans to make it easier for local residents to join the Chinese military and government in limbo, sources with knowledge of Beijing’s policies towards the city said.
“Given the current political situation, discussions like enrolling Hong Kong people into the army and the civil service system are going to be very difficult to carry on at the moment,” an official who is close to Beijing policymakers responsible for Hong Kong’s affairs told the South China Morning Post .
Last year, the Ministry of Defence confirmed that it was studying a proposal by political parties in Hong Kong to allow local residents to join the People’s Liberation Army.
Around six months later, it was revealed that there were also plans to allow people from the city to apply for government jobs within the Greater Bay Area.
But the mistrust caused by the mass protests and sometimes violent confrontations over the plan to allow criminal extraditions to the mainland means these steps are now unlikely to move forward – at least for the next few years – according to a number of officials and analysts.