Hong Kong authorities have barred a pro-democracy lawmaker from running in a local election for “implicitly” supporting Hong Kong’s independence from China, in what critics said was another instance of civil rights being eroded in the territory.
Eddie Chu (朱凱迪), a former journalist who was democratically elected as one of Hong Kong’s 70 legislators in a 2016 election, had planned to contest a separate grassroots poll to represent a village in the New Territories.
However, an official with Hong Kong’s Electoral Affairs Commission, Enoch Yuen (袁嘉諾), wrote to Chu on Sunday disqualifying his candidacy on the grounds that Chu had previously expressed support for “independence as an option for Hong Kong people to self-determine their future.”
Photo: AFP
While Chu had written to Yuen stating he did not support independence, he concluded that Chu’s answers, “when viewed objectively, can be understood as implicitly confirming that he supports independence could be an option for Hong Kong people.”
‘RIDICULOUS’
Chu said he might challenge this “ridiculous” decision in court and that he had been stripped of a fundamental political right at a time when Beijing has tightened its grip on the territory.
He added that he was already an elected lawmaker with strong public backing, whose suitability for public office had never previously been questioned.
“They need to clearly tell the people of Hong Kong ... how they can, without any public consultation or legislative process, change the threshold of political screening,” he said.
The move against Chu adds to a list of other democrats who have been banned from contesting elections, fueling fears of tightening political “red lines” by Beijing that could deny Hong Kong’s disaffected young people any mainstream political careers beyond street protest.
GOVERNMENT BACKING
In a statement, a government spokesman late on Sunday said that the government “agrees to and supports the decision” to ban Chu.
It also denied there had been “any political censorship, restriction of the freedom of speech or deprivation of the right to stand for elections.”
Hong Kong authorities say “self-determination,” or seeking greater autonomy from China, violates the territory’s Basic Law, which states that Hong Kong is an inalienable part of China.
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