BEIJING (AP) — China's legislature on Sunday ruled against allowing open nominations in elections for Hong Kong's leader, saying it would create a "chaotic society" in a decision that promises to ignite political tensions in the Asian financial hub.

The legislature's powerful Standing Committee ruled that all candidates for chief executive must receive more than half of the votes from a special nominating body before going before voters. Hong Kong democracy activists have held massive protests calling for genuine democracy in the Chinese territory over concerns that candidates would continue to be screened to assess their loyalty to Beijing.

Hong Kong has enjoyed substantial political autonomy since returning from British to Chinese rule in 1997. Chinese leaders agreed in 2007 that the chief executive would be chosen by "universal suffrage" in 2017, language pro-democracy activists say shows Beijing hasn't kept its promises.

Even before the widely expected decision, Hong Kong activists were laying out their next steps, with the most high-profile protest group, Occupy Central, calling for a rally Sunday night in the city's center.

Li Fei, deputy secretary general of the National People's Congress' Standing Committee, told a news conference that openly nominating candidates would create a "chaotic society."

"These rights come from laws, they don't come from the sky," he said. "Many Hong Kong people have wasted a lot of time discussing things that are not appropriate and aren't discussing things that are appropriate."

Making clear that Chinese leaders intend to tightly control politics in Hong Kong, Li noted that the chief executive is also the head of China's ruling Communist Party in the city.

"He has to be responsible to Hong Kong and to the central government. ... If Hong Kong's chief executive doesn't love the country and love the party, then that can't work in one country," Li said.

In its decision, the Standing Committee said, "Since the long-term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong and the sovereignty, security and development interests of the country are at stake, there is a need to proceed in a prudent and steady manner."

It said the 1,200-member nominating committee would select two or three candidates for chief executive. After one is selected through universal suffrage, the chief executive-elect "will have to be appointed by the Central People's Government."

Willy Lam, an expert on Chinese politics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said that the requirement that a candidate is supported by more than half of the nomination committee "will rule out a pan-democratic candidate."

"Only if it's lowered to 20 percent can a pan-democratic candidate get in," as there could be enough political diversity in the committee to back a more democratically minded person, Lam said.

Occupy Central has threatened to shut down Hong Kong's financial district with a massive sit-in if Beijing doesn't allow completely open elections for chief executive.

Pro-Beijing activists held their own march two weeks ago in Hong Kong denouncing Occupy Central as dangerous to stability in the city.

Political tensions spiked in June when Chinese officials released a policy "white paper" declaring that Hong Kong's "high degree of autonomy ... comes solely from the authorization by the central leadership."

Many read the policy paper as asserting Beijing's dominance of Hong Kong's affairs and hit the streets and the Internet in protest. Occupy Central drew Beijing's rebuke by organizing an online referendum that drew a reported 800,000 votes on how to pick the city's chief executive.

On Sunday, organizers of a similar referendum in the neighboring Chinese-controlled city of Macau said 95 percent of 8,688 people had voted in favor of its leader being elected by universal suffrage in 2019. Macau's incumbent leader, Fernando Chui, was elected to a second five-year term by a Beijing-friendly committee on Sunday.

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Associated Press writer Louise Watt contributed to this report.