Hong Kong has banned a potential candidate from contesting legislative council elections, saying his pro-independence stance violates constitutional tenets that declare the territory an inalienable part of China.
Chan Ho Tin (陳浩天), a National Party candidate, was disqualified from next month’s vote after refusing to sign a declaration acknowledging Hong Kong as an administrative region of China, the South China Morning Post reported.
His position is inconsistent with the territory’s constitutional and legal status, the government said in a statement posted on its official Web site.
Photo: Ruters
“The candidate cannot possibly comply with the requirements of the relevant electoral laws,” the statement said.
A person advocating for independence “cannot possibly uphold the Basic Law or fulfill his duties as a legislator,” the government said, referring to Hong Kong’s mini-constitution.
Calls for Hong Kong’s independence have gained traction since the 2014 pro-democracy “Occupy Central” protests failed to win government concessions for the territory’s first direct elections for chief executive next year.
Chan’s disqualification might raise questions about the eligibility of candidates with similar positions. He was one of eight so-called “localists” whose bids to run had yet to be accepted as of Friday, the newspaper reported.
The independence movement has grown alongside concerns that Chinese Communist Party leaders in Beijing are encroaching on the autonomy guaranteed to the territory when the UK handed it back in 1997.
In March, the Hong Kong government threatened to bar the formation of a political party advocating independence from China.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique