Rumor has it that 200 people are not qualified to take the oath of office and are afraid of being stripped of their seats. A large number of Hong Kong pan-democratic district councilors resigned.

The Hong Kong government amended the Hong Kong Public Officers Oath Ordinance in the promulgation of the Hong Kong version of the National Security Law, so that District Council members will have to swear to uphold the Basic Law and pledge allegiance to the SAR, and all District Council members will have to complete their oaths this month.

According to a report in Sing Tao Daily, Hong Kong DC members will be required to complete the oath-taking process this month, and the Hong Kong government will first send letters to more than 400 DC members, stating the conditions to qualify for the oath; the report points out that it is widely rumored in Hong Kong that more than 200 pan-democratic DC members may be DQ’d because they are not qualified for the oath.

If they are DQ’d, the salaries of DC members for 1.5 years will have to be paid back to the Hong Kong government, and “each of them is estimated to be in debt of HK$ million”; however, if they resign before taking the oath, their salaries will not be recovered, therefore, a wave of resignations of DC members in Hong Kong has been triggered recently, including the resignation of senior Democratic Party member Chen Shuying and many others who announced their resignations on social media. Yesterday, 10 people resigned in one day.