China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) yesterday passed a ruling that effectively bars two elected Hong Kong pro-independence politicians from taking office, Beijing’s most direct intervention in the territory’s legal and political system since the 1997 handover.
The rare move by Beijing came after Yau Wai-ching (游蕙禎), 25, and Sixtus “Baggio” Leung (梁頌恆), 30, pledged allegiance to the “Hong Kong nation” and displayed a banner declaring “Hong Kong is not China” during a swearing-in ceremony for the Legislative Council (LegCo) on Oct. 12.
The NPC in Beijing ruled that lawmakers must swear allegiance to Hong Kong as part of China and that candidates would be disqualified if they changed the wording of their oath of office or if they failed to take it in a sincere and solemn manner.
Photo: AFP
The prospect of the ruling sparked protests on Sunday in the territory and it is now on high alert for any repeat of Sunday’s clashes.
Members of the territory’s legal profession are planning a rare silent march tonight amid pressure for them to take even stronger action.
The protests on Sunday night were reminiscent of pro-democracy protests in late 2014 that paralyzed parts of the territory.
Photo: AFP
“This incident shows us the Basic Law is a handicapped legal document and the so-called mini-constitution can be amended and controlled by the Chinese Communist Party at will,” said Joshua Wong (黃之鋒), 20, one of the leaders of the 2014 protests.
Foreign diplomats were watching closely, stressing the importance of the rule of the law to the territory’s international reputation.
While the controversial decision effectively bars the two pro-independence Hong Kong politicians from being sworn in, a court in the territory must still rule on the case in a judicial review, taking Beijing’s decision into consideration.
“The nature of Hong Kong independence is to split the country. It seriously violates the ‘one country, two systems’ policy,” said Li Fei (李飛), chairman of the NPC’s Basic Law Committee. “The central government is highly concerned about the grave dangers the Hong Kong independence forces bring to the country and to Hong Kong.”
Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying (梁振英) said his government would fully implement China’s interpretation.
However, Legislative Council President Andrew Leung (梁君彥) said the Hong Kong judicial review needed to be completed before confirming if the pair were disqualified.
Simon Young, a professor at Hong Kong University’s law school, said he was still evaluating the ruling, but it did seem to bar Leung and Yau from taking office.
“I do worry we are only going to see more interpretations and attempts by the NPC to flesh out local laws, if they really want to stop the separatists,” Young said.
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
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
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
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