The South China Morning Post (January 13) reported that the NPC Standing Committee will consider denying Hongkongers with BN(O) status the right to vote in the city at its upcoming session from January 20-24. Government adviser and former Hong Kong security chief Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, who a few days ago had called for Beijing to strip residents with foreign citizenship of their right to live in the city, was quoted as saying the new proposals were “tougher” than what she had in mind. She said  “I was talking about BN(O) holders losing their permanent resident status after emigration abroad … But if the objective is to stop BN(O) holders from taking up public office altogether, that goes beyond my proposal.” Tam Yiu-chung, Hongkong's sole delegate to the NPCSC, declined to comment on

(January 13) whether any Hong Kong item could be placed on the meeting agenda.