China slams door shut on full Hong Kong democracy in 2017 vote

BEIJING/HONG KONG (Reuters) - China's parliament said on Sunday it will tightly control the nomination of candidates for a landmark election in Hong Kong in 2017, a move likely to trigger mass protests in the city's Central business district by disappointed democracy activists. The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) said it had endorsed a framework to let only two or three candidates run in a 2017 vote for Hong Kong's next leader. All candidates must first obtain majority backing from a "nominating committee" likely to be stacked with Beijing loyalists. The relatively tough decision by the NPC - China's final arbiter on the city's democratic affairs - makes it almost impossible for opposition democrats to get on the ballot. Thousands of "Occupy Central" activists, who are demanding Beijing allow a real, free election, are threatening to blockade the city's business district in retaliation as part of a campaign of civil disobedience. (Reporting by Michael Martina in BEIJING and James Pomfret in HONG KONG; Editing by Paul Tait)