Hong Kong exiles announced Thursday in the United Kingdom that they will now conduct online consultations with the public around the world to lay the foundation for the establishment of the Hong Kong Shadow Parliament. Hong Kong’s shadow council is said to have been registered in the United States.
Cheng Man-kit, a former staff member of the British Consulate-General in Exile in The UK, held a press conference on Thursday as the sponsor of the Shadow Council of Hong Kong and a member of the Secretariat, announcing the establishment of a democratic participation mechanism, including voting, through an online questionnaire to solicit opinions from people from all over the world.
The shadow Council has been registered as a legal body in the United States and is expected to register in the United Kingdom next, Zheng said in a statement. He pointed out that the shadow parliamentary secretariat, including him, now has about five core members.
Mr Cheng said the purpose of the shadow council was to respond to the current political situation and give Hong Kong people an alternative to continue to have a voice. He said Hong Kong urgently needs a more credible democratic mechanism to reflect public opinion.
Zheng Wenjie said: actually all help the international front. As I mentioned earlier, the parliamentary line, the street line, is becoming more and more risky. On the international front, because we are abroad, we can do more. So, how to make international is able to more unity, or in jobs that do different help Hong Kong’s democratic movement, have greater legitimacy, respect them, I think that in addition to their existing some media visibility, more importantly, as a democracy advocates, to get the legitimacy of democracy, in order to get an opinion.
‘I foresee the shadow parliament being stigmatized by China or Hong Kong,’ Mr. Cheng said. As an example, he said that in July, when he was preparing for the shadow Parliament, the concept was still in the vague stage. It was labeled as “Hong Kong independence” and was accused of violating the Hong Kong Security Law. They think this just shows that the concept of shadow parliament works, and therefore terrifies the Communist Party.
However, Mr Cheng stressed that the shadow council was not in opposition to China or Hong Kong and did not intend to imitate or establish any government function. The Parliament will include Hong Kong people at home and abroad, and will cover the political spectrum of all Hong Kong people, including those who advocate Hong Kong independence. He said the secretariat tried to protect such voices, whether they were majority or minority.
According to the online questionnaire, the main function of the Shadow Parliament is to provide reference guidelines for the structure and legitimacy of the shadow Parliament. The questions include voting and the qualifications of candidates. For example, how to define Hong Kong people? How to authenticate? And what kind of electoral system, such as single or multi-constituency system, should be used? And so on. According to the paper of the Secretariat, the Shadow Parliament aims to enable Hong Kong people to vote for representatives, empower overseas Hong Kong people and strengthen their links with local Hong Kong people. In the future, the shadow Parliament will also work on the international front. In addition, the Secretariat recommends that Hong Kong residents who are still in Hong Kong should use A VPN to browse and fill in their views in order to avoid being monitored by the Government of the People’s Republic of China.
Hong Kong Shadow Parliament Public Consultation Document Link:
English: https://hkshadowparliament.com/en/consultation-paper/
English: https://hkshadowparliament.com/zh/%e8%ab%ae%e8%a9%a2%e6%96%87%e4%bb%b6/
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