Hong Kong’s legislature has today moved one step closer to becoming a local branch of the Chinese Communist Party, after the disqualification of four of the most moderate, mainstream pro-democracy legislators resulted in the resignation en masse of every single pro-democracy legislator in protest.
For the first time since 1997 the body now has no pro-democracy voices, marking yet another nail in the coffin of ‘one country, two systems.’
The four legislators who were ousted by Beijing – Alvin Yeung, Kwok Ka-ki, Dennis Kwok and Kenneth Leung – are hardly radical pro-independence activists. As lawyers and accountants, for years they have represented the pro-democracy establishment, working within the system to protect the rule of law, due process and autonomy Hong Kong was promised in the Sino-British Joint Declaration.
The decision by the rest of the pro-democracy legislators to resign in protest at their ousting is courageous and right. It is a tragedy it has come to this, but they clearly could not continue to work in a legislature that is rapidly becoming a mouthpiece for the Chinese regime. In taking this dramatic step today, they have not walked out or abandoned their duties as representatives of the people – it is Beijing that has forced them out.
The removal of the four pro-democracy lawmakers took place after the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress in Beijing ruled 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.’
This arbitrary and vaguely-worded edict represents a grave violation of the city’s autonomy and Basic Law (the territory’s mini-constitution). In the same way that Beijing imposed the national security law on Hong Kong in July, this decree directly threatens due process and the rule of law in Hong Kong.
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