November 12, 2020 2:26:26 pm
Four disqualified lawmakers, from left to right, Dennis Kwok, Alvin Yeung, Kwok Ka-ki and Kenneth Leung listen to questions from journalists during a press conference at the Legislative Council in Hong Kong on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020 (AP Photo : Vincent Yu).
Nearly all of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy lawmakers have announced that they are resigning from the city’s legislature in protest at the forced removal of four of their colleagues, who were accused of endangering national security by supporting the independence of the semi-autonomous region. from mainland China.
The massive resignation of the remaining 15 pro-democracy lawmakers has effectively eliminated political opposition from the Hong Kong Legislative Council, also known as LegCo. With this, the city’s 70-seat legislature now has only two remaining opposition members.
What led to this?
The recent resignations and expulsions were prompted by a resolution passed by China’s highest legislative body, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, which allows the city government to directly remove elected lawmakers without going to court.
Under the resolution, lawmakers should be disqualified if they support Hong Kong’s independence, fail to recognize China’s sovereignty, or encourage foreign forces to interfere in the city’s affairs, AP reported.
Shortly after the resolution was passed, the Hong Kong government announced that it would disqualify four lawmakers: Alvin Yeung, Dennis Kwok, Kwok Ka-ki and Kenneth Leung. Later that day, 15 other pro-democracy leaders announced that they were resigning in solidarity.
“Today we will resign from our positions because our partners, our colleagues have been disqualified by the ruthless action of the central government,” the leader of the pro-democracy camp, Wu Chi-Wai, said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Lawmakers were seen holding hands and shouting: “Hong Kong adds oil! Together we are! “According to an AP report. The phrase” add oil “is a translation of a Chinese expression used for encouragement.
“This is a real act by Beijing to add the finishing touch to the fight for democracy in Hong Kong,” said legislator Claudia Mo. “From now on, anyone who considers politically incorrect or unpatriotic or just not nice to see, you can just eject it. “📣 Express Explained is now on Telegram
The empty seats of pro-democracy lawmakers, above, are seen in the Legislative Chamber in Hong Kong, Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020 (AP Photo: Vincent Yu).
Why were these four legislators removed?
Hong Kong officials said the four lawmakers who were removed from office on Wednesday had already been barred from running in the upcoming elections, which were previously scheduled for September, but were ultimately postponed to next year.
“We need to have a political body made up of patriots,” said Hong Kong CEO Carrie Lam. “There are four legislators who have been considered … who do not genuinely swear to uphold the basic law and have not genuinely pledged their allegiance to Hong Kong SAR [special administrative region]. “
But officials have yet to reveal how exactly the four lawmakers broke the rules. According to a BBC report, two of them, Dennis Kwok and Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu, were among the signatories of a joint letter to US senators calling for sanctions on Hong Kong.
Another, Kenneth Leung, has also been accused of indirectly supporting the sanctions after he attended a press conference on the issue during a diplomatic visit to the United States. Kwok Ka-Ki, on the other hand, has not been involved in any of the incidents. Election officials previously said he had an “alleged intention” to ask foreign forces to impose more sanctions, the BBC reported.
At a press conference, Dennis Kwok said: “If observing due process and fighting for democracy can lead to disqualification, [disqualification] it will be my honor. “
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Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmakers pose for a photo ahead of a press conference at the Legislative Council in Hong Kong on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020 (AP Photo: Vincent Yu).
What are the implications for Hong Kong?
With the resignations and expulsions, the legislative body has almost no dissenting voices for the first time since Hong Kong returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997, which officially ended 156 years of British rule.
Critics believe the recent resolution will make it easier for the city government to crack down on opposition lawmakers who express their disagreement against China’s greater control over Hong Kong.
Only two opposition lawmakers now remain in the LegCo: Cheng Chung-tai of the Civic Passion Party and Pierre Chan, a doctor and lawmaker.
Meanwhile, at a news conference announcing the impeachment of the four lawmakers, Hong Kong CEO Carrie Lam said she was “excited” that the bills will be passed more “efficiently” in the legislature in the future.
The leader of the pro-democracy camp, Wu Chi-Wai, accused the government of destroying Hong Kong’s mini-constitution known as the Basic Law, as well as the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ framework, which ensured the city greater autonomy from the continent until 2047.
“We can no longer tell the world that we still have ‘one country, two systems,’ this declares his official death,” Wu Chi-wai told reporters on Wednesday.
But the crackdown on dissenting voices goes back even further. Earlier this year, China passed a controversial national security law in the territory after years of pro-democracy protests, which critics say has overshadowed the freedoms enjoyed by 74.5 lakh Hong Kong residents during more than two decades.
Under the new law, anyone found “undermining Hong Kong’s national unification” with the mainland could face punishment as severe as life imprisonment.
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Hong Kong CEO Carrie Lam listens to questions from journalists during a press conference in Hong Kong on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2020 (AP Photo: Vincent Yu).
How did Beijing react to the resignations?
The Chinese government condemned the move by opposition lawmakers to resign en masse, calling it a “sham” and an “open defiance” to undermine its authority, as well as the city’s Basic Law.
“If these lawmakers hope to use their resignation to provoke radical opposition and call for foreign interference, they have miscalculated,” a spokesman for China’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office said in a statement.
“The farce completely exposed how some opposition lawmakers ignore citizens for their own political interests. It shows its stubborn attitude of confrontation against the central government, ”the statement read.
The statement also mentioned pro-democracy lawmakers who chose to remain in the LegCo. “We note that some legislators labeled ‘opposition’ were not kidnapped in the battlefield of ‘mass resignation’, but chose to continue to carry out their functions as legislators. We must support their rational decision, “he said.
How has the world reacted to the news?
China’s move was widely condemned by the governments of the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Australia.
Robert O’Brien, the US national security adviser, accused China of “flagrantly” violating its international commitments and threatened to impose more sanctions on “those responsible for extinguishing Hong Kong’s freedom,” The Guardian reported.
“One country, two systems’ is now simply a fig leaf covering the expansion of the CCP’s one-party dictatorship in Hong Kong,” he said.
UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the forcible expulsion of pro-democracy lawmakers represented “a further assault on Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy and freedoms under the UK-China Joint Declaration” .
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