Pro-democracy politicians in Hong Kong have resigned after four of them were expelled from parliament in accordance with Chinese law.
Authority Hong Kong The four legislators – Kovac Ka-ki, Alvin Young, Dennis Kov and Kenneth Leung – have been fired from parliament for endangering national security, a statement said.
Earlier, 19 members of the opposition said they would resign in protest and confirmed that they would submit their resignation letter on Thursday.
Alvin Young speaks to media after being disqualified by Engok-Kyu, Kovac Ka-ki, Kenneth Laying and Dennis Cove
Following the meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China on Tuesday and Wednesday, four of them were banned.
The committee passed a resolution disqualifying those who support Hong Kong’s independence or deny recognition of China’s sovereignty over the city, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Any law that threatens national law, even the new law, prohibits outsiders from interfering in the territory.
Wu Chi-yi, the convener of the pro-democracy group in parliament, told a news conference: “Today we will resign from our position because our partners, our colleagues, have been disqualified by the ruthless actions of the central government.
“We have faced many challenges in the coming future to fight for democracy, but we will never, ever give up,” he said.
Confirming their incompetence, Dennis Cove said at a news conference: “From our point of view, this is clearly a violation of basic law and the right of the public to participate and our failure to monitor due process.”
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Hong Kong’s chief executive, Kerry Lam, backed Beijing’s position, saying anyone who could not uphold the law and pledge allegiance to Hong Kong should be disqualified as a legislator at a briefing on Wednesday.
Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said it was important to uphold the rule of law and to continue and improve the “one country, two systems” policy, which defines Hong Kong’s relationship with China.
Foreign Secretary Dominic RAB said: “China’s decision to voluntarily remove elected pro-democracy Hong Kong legislators from their positions represents a further aggression on Hong Kong’s higher autonomy and independence under the UK-China Joint Declaration.
“This campaign of harassment, repression and disqualification of democratic opponents tarnishes China’s international reputation and undermines Hong Kong’s long-term stability.”
The mass resignation leaves Hong Kong’s parliament with only pro-Beijing members who already have a majority in the chamber.
Elections to the Chamber, to be held in September, Was postponed for a year By MS Lam, who blamed Coronavirus Extreme.
Critics, however, argued that the opposition was concerned about gaining seats after more than 600,000 people took part in a pro-democracy private primary.
Last month Beijing made it a crime of contempt or contempt Its national flag, Hong Kong has seen what happened during most of last year’s anti-Beijing protests.
Protests began with opposition to the first proposed – and later withdrawn – extradition law, but were later expanded to include greater democracy and criticism. ChinaAttempts to tighten control over the former British colony.
The United States has withdrawn business opportunities granted to Hong Kong and other governments – Including the UK – has suspended extradition and other agreements in protest of the situation there.
Analysis: Strengthens Beijing’s strength
By Tom Cheshire, Asia Correspondent
In fact, it is the end of Hong Kong’s political opposition.
The British government had earlier warned that Hong Kong’s independence was being curtailed.
By this measure, it was half falling into the ocean on the steep side.
After the government disqualified four of its members, all opposition members of Hong Kong’s parliamentary legislature resigned.
For the first time since the handover in 1999, a decree from Beijing came with the effective outcome of Hong Kong’s political opposition, and with it.
The Chinese government has ruled today that a government in the region that does not support Hong Kong law and does not swear allegiance to the region can dismiss a judge without the involvement of a city court.
The four opposition lawmakers, who have already called for a foreign government to approve Beijing and Hong Kong, have already been suspended and disqualified from running in the upcoming Assembly elections.
The Hong Kong chief executive argued at a news conference today: “It seems unreasonable to allow people who do not support the fundamental law and do not pledge allegiance to the Hong Kong SAR to continue as members of Lezco.”
The four disqualified legislators said they would consult their lawyers about a challenge in court and they could also have a lawsuit: Disqualifying a candidate from the election is not a reason to dismiss a member of parliament.
But the legal difference is probably marginal compared to the larger reality: Beijing has control over Hong Kong, and this control seems to be getting tighter every day.
The only other place of opposition without any official political representation is the protest.
This year, though, Hong Kong has not seen last year’s mass protests – which have often turned violent.
There are two reasons for that. The COVID-19 rules prevented the rally even after Hong Kong logged the number of daily cases in single digits.
Second, the much-anticipated new National Security Act – directly imposed by Beijing – has dramatically increased the cost of protests.
Anyone convicted of “secession” or “subversion” could face life in prison and be prosecuted in mainland China.
A Chinese Communist Party cadre has hung up the National Security Act in the city as a “sharp sword”.
Today has shown that there are thousands of ways to cut.
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