Pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong poses for the press while holding a candidate nomination form while announcing his intention to run for the Legislative Council general election in Hong Kong on July 20, 2020.
Anthony Wallace | AFP | fake pictures
The UK has condemned Hong Kong’s decision to disqualify pro-democracy candidates from the upcoming legislative council election. Other critics around the world have also expressed concern about upcoming polls.
It comes as authorities announced Thursday that at least 12 pro-democracy candidates, including high-profile activist Joshua Wong, have been disqualified from participating in the upcoming Hong Kong elections. The Hong Kong government “does not rule out the possibility” that more candidates will be disqualified, he said.
Incumbent lawmakers Dennis Kwok and Alvin Yeung, as well as Lester Shum, a student leader in the so-called Umbrella Movement, were also barred from running as candidates in the legislative council elections.
Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China and a former British colony that has a separate legal and economic system from mainland China, and limited electoral rights.
The Hong Kong government said the 12 potential candidates were disqualified because their nominations “did not meet the requirement of the Legislative Council Ordinance.”
British Chancellor Dominic Raab criticized the measure.
“I condemn the decision to disqualify opposition candidates from participating in the Hong Kong Legislative Council elections,” Raab said in a statement on Thursday. “It is clear that they have been disqualified for their political views, undermining the integrity of ‘One Country, Two Systems’ and the rights and freedoms guaranteed in the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law of Hong Kong.”
Hong Kong, a former British colony that returned to Chinese rule in 1997, is governed by the “one country, two systems” policy. This framework grants the territory a largely separate economic and legal system, and allows those who live there limited electoral rights.
The upcoming elections will be Hong Kong’s first since the national security law went into effect. Chinese officials said the law is intended to prohibit secession, subversion of state power, terrorist activities and foreign interference.
But critics fear it may undermine the “one country, two systems” principle that was guaranteed under a treaty signed by the UK and China before Hong Kong’s transfer of sovereignty, and which was intended to remain in force until 2047.
Nominations for the elections close on Friday. Voting is scheduled for early September, although media reports suggest it may be delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, a coalition of lawmakers from several countries, including Australia, Canada and Japan, said the obstructions were “unacceptable”.
“The decision to disqualify democratic candidates and the anticipated delay for the September Legislative Council election represent unacceptable obstructions to the democratic process in Hong Kong and raise new concerns about the erosion of rights and freedoms in the city,” they said in a release.
United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged Hong Kong to proceed with the elections as planned.
“They must be retained. The people of Hong Kong deserve to have their voice represented by the elected officials they choose in those elections,” Pompeo said on a radio show, according to an official transcript.
According to Reuters, more than 600,000 citizens in mid-July showed their support for the younger nominees at an unofficial primary.
At a press conference on Friday, pro-democracy activist Wong said: “Beijing has organized multiple events to prevent the opposition bloc from taking the majority in the Hong Kong legislature.”
“Prohibiting me from participating (in) the elections would not stop our cause of democracy, even though the government could soon declare democratic aspirations illegal under the new law,” he added.
On Thursday, he wrote on Twitter that Beijing shows “total disregard” for what Hong Kong citizens want and nullifies the “last pillar of the disappearance of autonomy.”
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