HONG KONG (Reuters) – Leading Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong applied on Monday to run for a seat in the Chinese-ruled city legislature, raising the possibility of a battle with authorities after that he was banned from participating in previous surveys.
Wong is one of more than a dozen young and more troubled politicians who overshadowed old-guard Democrats in the unofficial opposition primaries this month in what many saw as a protest vote against a national security law. imposed by Beijing.
The Sept. 6 vote will see the democratic opposition try to reclaim some political influence in a city assembly packed with loyalists to Beijing. Only half of its seats are directly elected.
Political analysts and democracy activists hope that the authorities try to disqualify some candidates.
Beijing says the primaries were illegal and may have violated the security law, which punishes what China broadly defines as secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces with life sentences.
“With the possibility of facing a life sentence … I still hope to receive the mandate of the people and let the world know that we will continue to fight until our last breath,” Wong, who sees himself as a primary target of the new law, told reporters.
In the past four years, authorities have banned 18 Democrats from participating in local elections, including Wong, according to the Civil Rights Observer group.
Wong, who was 17 when he became the face of the 2014 student-led Umbrella Movement protests, was not a leading figure in the often violent protests that rocked the semi-autonomous financial center last year.
However, he has built up support for the pro-democracy movement abroad, meeting with politicians from the United States, Europe and elsewhere, sparking the ire of Beijing, which he says is a “black hand” of foreign forces.
He was disqualified from participating in the former British colony’s district council elections last year because advocating for Hong Kong’s self-determination violated electoral law, which he described at the time as political censorship.
Wong has said he supports the idea of a non-binding referendum for people to have a say in Hong Kong’s future, but that he is against independence.
Wong did not sign a form asking candidates to pledge allegiance to Hong Kong and its mini-constitution, the Basic Law. The form is not mandatory, but security law requires candidates to commit in writing or by other means.
Reports by Carol Mang and Yanni Chow; Written by Marius Zaharia; Editing by Robert Birsel
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