China has taken control of Hong Kong’s legislature

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.