ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Political Appointments System in Hong Kong

Okay kiddo, so imagine you are playing a game with your friends and you get to pick who is going to be the leader. Sometimes when grown-ups play their own game called politics, they also get to choose who is going to be the leader of a place like Hong Kong.

In this adult game, some leaders are chosen by the people who live there and some leaders are chosen by the big boss of the whole country, called the Central Government.

The political appointment system in Hong Kong is a bit complicated because some of the leaders are chosen by the people and some are chosen by the Central Government. Those who are chosen by the Central Government are called appointments or selection, while those who are chosen by the people are called elections.

The people who are chosen by the Central Government have a lot of power in Hong Kong and make important decisions about how things should be run. However, some people in Hong Kong don't like this system because they think it means that the leaders are not really representing the people who live there.

So, to make it easier to understand, imagine that Hong Kong is like a big game of playground and some leaders are picked by the children who play there, but other leaders are picked by a really big grown-up who doesn't live in the playground but still gets to make rules for it.