Hong Kong’s pro-democracy lawmakers, who have announced their resignations, staged a protest on Thursday against Beijing’s meddling in the removal of four pro-democracy lawmakers. Western countries continue to condemn the Chinese authorities for interfering in the functioning of Hong Kong’s parliament.
Pro-democracy lawmakers hand in resignation, say one country, two systems is dead
Most of those pro-democracy lawmakers who announced their collective resignations did not go to the regular meeting of the Hong Kong Legislative Yuan on Thursday (Nov 12), according to Hong Kong media reports.
The convenor of the meeting of pro-democracy lawmakers, Hu Zhiwei, led several lawmakers to submit their resignation letters on Thursday afternoon. Hu reiterated that by authorizing the Chief Executive of Hong Kong to disqualify lawmakers, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) was breaking with the “separation of powers” and declaring the death of “one country, two systems”.
Without the balance of power, Hu said, all constitutional powers in Hong Kong are now concentrated in the hands of the chief executive alone.
As of 4:30 p.m., the Legislative Council had received resignation letters from nine pro-democracy lawmakers. Today is the last day for the pro-democracy camp in the Legislative Council, and the effective date of their resignations is Dec. 1, Hu said. Following the resignations, Hu said the pro-democracy camp will continue to contribute to the pro-democracy movement in different positions in the community.
The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the Communist Party of China calls the general resignation an “open challenge.”
The Chinese authorities have severely criticized these parliamentarians. The Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council called their actions an “open challenge” to the authority of the Central Government and the Basic Law of Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office said in a statement that it would be a mistake if they “want to encourage radical protests and beg for the intervention of outside forces to drag Hong Kong into chaos again.”
The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), which met on Tuesday and Wednesday, passed a resolution finding that lawmakers who support Hong Kong’s independence or refuse to recognize China’s sovereignty over Hong Kong or threaten national security, “seek foreign or foreign powers to intervene in the affairs of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, or engage in other acts that endanger national security” should be disqualified.
The NPCSC also specified that members of the sixth term Legislative Council whose nominations were ruled invalid and could not stand for the seventh Legislative Council election due to the above-mentioned circumstances were suitable for the above decision.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor then disqualified four pro-democracy lawmakers in accordance with the NPC Standing Committee’s directive. At a press conference on Wednesday, Mrs Lam said she wanted the legislature to become a political body “with patriots as the main body”.
Beijing provoked worldwide outrage when it pushed through Hong Kong’s National Security Law in June this year. In the months that followed, the Hong Kong government and Beijing joined forces to arrest pro-democracy activists and intensify their crackdown on the Hong Kong media, which was once again condemned by the international community. The disqualification of the pro-democracy legislators again drew harsh condemnation from Britain, the United States, Australia and Germany, among others.
The EU demanded that Beijing immediately rectify its mistake and cancel the punishment of the four lawmakers’
The European Union on Thursday called on China to “immediately rectify the rules of the Legislative Council that resulted in the disqualification of four legislators deemed insufficiently patriotic”.
The EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, said in a statement Thursday: “This new capricious decision by Beijing further undermines Hong Kong’s autonomy.”
The EU also urged Hong Kong’s Legislative Council to “immediately revoke” the sanctions against the four lawmakers.
The statement said, “These steps taken (by Beijing) constitute another serious blow to political pluralism and freedom of expression in Hong Kong.”
The EU said it was “closely monitoring the political situation in Hong Kong”. This year, the EU has taken a firmer stance on China’s human rights record and business practices.
UK notes Chinese ambassador to UK, considers sanctions against Hong Kong-China officials
The British Foreign Office sent a note to the Chinese ambassador to the United Kingdom expressing Britain’s “deep concern,” Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Nigel Adams said Thursday. This is another sad day for the people of Hong Kong,” Adams said, as the British government announced that it was the third time Beijing had violated the joint statement signed by Britain and China in Hong Kong, and the second time in the last six months that the Chinese side had violated its own commitments.
He said China’s action was “designed to harass and silence all voices critical of China’s policies”.
Adams also said the United Kingdom would seriously consider imposing sanctions on officials in China and Hong Kong. We will continue to impose sanctions on relevant officials in accordance with the Magnitsky Act of Human Rights,” he said.
Adams said, now speculate what will be sanctioned is “completely inappropriate”, because it will weaken the impact of sanctions. But Adams said that the United Kingdom will be the target of the sanctions “further research”.
Now all the people of Hong Kong are left with is a “neutered legislature”, Adams added.
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said earlier that Beijing’s forcible disqualification of Hong Kong lawmakers was “a clear violation of the legally binding Sino-British Joint Declaration”.
He said: “Once again, China has broken its commitments and undermined Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy.”
US, Australia condemn Beijing for undermining Hong Kong’s democracy
U.S. President Donald Trump’s national security adviser Robert O’Brien on Wednesday criticized the Communist Party of China for violating international commitments it has made to the people of Hong Kong.
In a statement, O’Brien said, “‘One country, two systems’ is now just a shroud for the Communist Party of China to expand its one-party dictatorship in Hong Kong. The United States will continue to use all of its powers under the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, and the Executive Order on the Normalization of Hong Kong to identify and sanction those responsible for extinguishing Hong Kong’s freedom.”
The Australian government also criticised Beijing for “seriously undermining” Hong Kong’s democratic processes and institutions by disqualifying four members of parliament.
In a statement, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne said: “Australia and the international community will continue to follow developments closely and maintain a continuing interest in human rights and freedoms, transparency, self-government and the rule of law in Hong Kong.”
Gladys Liu, Australia’s first Chinese-American federal parliamentarian who was born and raised in Hong Kong, was saddened by the events in Hong Kong, which she described as “the loss of my democracy.”
Gladys Liu said, “Beijing’s abolition of elected legislators is actually hurting Hong Kong’s autonomy.”
Germany calls on Beijing to respect international commitments
Germany, which holds the EU presidency, expressed “deep concern” over China’s expulsion of four pro-democracy lawmakers from Hong Kong on Wednesday, saying the move “undermines pluralism and freedom of expression”.
A spokesman for the German foreign ministry said: “Hong Kong citizens have the right to participate in free and fair elections and enjoy the freedoms and rights guaranteed by the Hong Kong Basic Law.”
The spokesman said these rights must be respected and Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy must be upheld, adding that China has made international commitments to this.
International organizations have also slammed the Chinese and Hong Kong governments for their actions.
International organisations call for defence of democratic values
The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, a group of politicians from North America, Europe, Australia and Japan, said in a statement Wednesday that it was a blatant attack on Hong Kong’s autonomy.
“We call on governments to take urgent action to hold Beijing accountable for its mistreatment of Hong Kong people and violations of international law,” the group said in the statement, adding, “Democracies must take decisive action to defend the rules-based international order and values.”
The Hong Kong Association for the Promotion of Democracy called the new resolution a “death sentence” and said the Legislative Council would exist only as a “rubber-stamp” body.
The Washington-based organization said: “With today’s vote and the immediate disqualification of four opposition lawmakers, the Chinese Communist Party is telling the world that not only do they have complete control over the chief executive and her government, but they are now extending that absolute control to the legislature.”
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