PRO-DEMOCRACY LAWMAKERS IN HONG KONG RESIGN EN MASSE

Wed 11 November 2020:

On Wednesday Beijing passed a resolution allowing the city’s government to disqualify politicians deemed a threat to national security.

Shortly afterwards the opposition lawmakers said they would leave the city legislature in solidarity.

“Today we will resign from our positions, because our partners, our colleagues have been disqualified by the central government’s ruthless move,” said Wu Chi-wai, convener of the pro-democracy camp.

“Although we are facing a lot of difficulties in the coming future for the fight of democracy, but we will never, never give up,” he said.

The disqualification of the four politicians – Alvin Yeung, Dennis Kwok, Kwok Ka-ki and Kenneth Leung – came after China’s parliament adopted a resolution allowing the city’s government to expel legislators deemed to be supporting Hong Kong independence, colluding with foreign forces or threatening national security, without having to go through the courts.

Wu said that remaining 15 pro-democracy legislators in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council, known as the LegCo, will hand in their resignation letters on Thursday.

The new resolution passed by China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee says that lawmakers should be disqualified if they support Hong Kong independence, refuse to acknowledge China’s sovereignty, ask foreign forces to interfere in the city’s affairs or in other ways threaten national security.

It also allows the Hong Kong government to directly remove lawmakers without having to approach the courts.

Earlier on Wednesday, Carrie Lam, the chief executive of Hong Kong, told reporters that the disqualifications were “constitutional, legal, reasonable and necessary”.

“We have doubts about their abilities to perform their duties. If they are unable to uphold the Basic Law, and to support Hong Kong, of course they are not qualified to be legislators,” she said, referring to the city’s mini-constitution.

China introduced a controversial and far-reaching national security law in Hong Kong in late June, which criminalised “secession, subversion and collusion with foreign forces”.

The law was introduced after years of pro-democracy and anti-Beijing protests. It has already led to several arrests of activists and has largely silenced protesters.

Hong Kong – formerly a British colony – was returned to China under the “one country, two systems” principle, which allowed it to retain more rights and freedoms than the mainland until 2047.

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