Three former pan-democrats in the Hong Kong Legislative Council were arrested by police Wednesday morning. This is yet another new move by the Hong Kong government against pan-democratic lawmakers. This comes after the Hong Kong government and Beijing jointly disqualified four Hong Kong pan-democrats, and then all pan-democrats in the Legislative Council resigned en masse in protest.
The pan-democrats arrested by police on Wednesday morning (November 18) were Hong Kong Democratic Party (HKDP) lawmaker Christopher Hui Chi-fung, Legislative Council Democratic Group (LDP) Parliamentary Front member Chu Kai-dee, and People Power Party (PPP) Chairman Chan Chi-chuen.
All three reported their arrests to the public through social media. When the police arrived early in the morning to arrest them, they said they were arrested for allegedly participating in the throwing of “stinky water” during a Legislative Council meeting, a violation of the attempted assault statute.
The three men were released on bail that afternoon, and their case is scheduled to be heard in the West Kowloon Magistrate’s Court on the afternoon of the 19th.
The so-called “stinky incident” refers to the June 4, 2012, protest in which three legislators threw foul-smelling liquids during the Legislative Council’s consideration of the National Anthem Bill. They should have made it clear to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that they would not accept the national anthem law, and also criticized the CCP regime for leaving a bad taste in their mouths, hoping to stop the draconian law from suppressing freedom in Hong Kong. However, the bill was passed in the chaos that followed.
Hong Kong’s Legislative Council is partially directly elected, and pro-Beijing pro-establishment legislators have always held a majority in the Council. As a result, the two sides have often resorted to delaying tactics and even clashed during the proceedings of the Legislature. Such situations are not uncommon.
According to Hong Kong media reports, a number of pan-democratic legislators and their assistants have been arrested in recent months. Democratic Party lawmakers David Hu, Wan Siu Kin, and Wong Pik Wan, as well as Labor Party lawmakers Fernando Cheung and Labor Party Chairman Kwok Wing Kin were all arrested by the police. The arrests were for allegedly obstructing legislators in the performance of their duties during a meeting of the Legislative Council House Committee on May 8, 2012, in violation of the Legislative Council Powers and Privileges Ordinance. The case has been adjourned by the judge until February 11 next year. The defendants were released on HK$1,000 bail.
After Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor announced her decision to postpone the Legislative Council elections for one year, Chu Kaidee and Chan Chi-chuen announced their resignations in protest.
Democrats argue that the postponement of the Legislative Council elections violates Hong Kong’s Basic Law.
Since the Chinese Communist Party imposed the National Security Law on Hong Kong in June, the Hong Kong government, with Beijing’s support, has intensified its crackdown on the opposition, including pro-democracy lawmakers in the Legislative Council. They have used “patriotism” as a weapon to disqualify opposition lawmakers, turning the Legislative Council into a “rubber stamp” controlled by the pro-establishment faction.
On Tuesday, Zhang Xiaoming, deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, made a speech in which he clearly stated that the basic system of “Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong with a high degree of autonomy” should be replaced by “Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong with patriots loving Hong Kong. He also claimed that the Chinese Communist Party would reform Hong Kong’s politics, education, and judicial system, and would make “socialism with Chinese characteristics” the guarantee of Hong Kong’s capitalist system.
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