Joshua Wong and 11 other activists in Hong Kong have been prohibited from participating in the city’s Legislative Council elections.
It was announced on Thursday that the 12 candidates would be disqualified from participating in the September elections because of their unwillingness to pledge allegiance to Hong Kong’s laws. Authorities have left open the possibility that more disqualifications could be soon to come.
The decision came weeks after the implementation of a national security law for the city, which has been used to crack down on dissidents of the Chinese government.
“The nomination form must include a signed declaration to the effect that the person will uphold the [Basic Law] and pledge allegiance to the [Hong Kong Special Administrative Region] of the [People’s Republic of China],” Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong said in a statement.
The office added that by advocating for Hong Kong’s independence, promising to vote against measures such as the city’s budget, or openly opposing the new law, the activists barred wouldn’t be able to serve on the Legislative Council effectively.
Similar actions have been taken in the past by the city’s electoral authorities. In 2017, four pro-democracy legislators on the Council were disqualified for failing to take the oath of office properly. Nathan Law, another leader of the city’s protest movement, refused to say it, electing to instead quote the words of Mahatma Gandhi, “You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind.”
In a conversation with the Washington Examiner, Wong expressed fear that the government might try to disqualify him.
“They even hope to try their best to cancel the whole election,” he said.
“The excuse they use is that I describe national security law as a draconian law, which shows that I do not support this sweeping law,” Wong wrote on Facebook after the announcement was made. “Clearly, Beijing shows a total disregard for the will of the Hongkongers, tramples upon the city’s last pillar of vanishing autonomy and attempts to keep Hong Kong’s legislature under its firm grip.”
Two weeks ago, Hong Kong authorities condemned a pro-democracy primary that took place in the city, calling it “nakedly illegal behavior” under the national security law. Days before, participation in the primary exceeded expectations by more than 280%, with more than 600,000 people voting.
Hong Kong’s new law criminalizes subversion, secession, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces. Four students in Hong Kong were recently arrested for “inciting secession.” For this offense, these people between the ages of 16 and 21 could face years in prison.
But Beijing’s liaison office to the city insisted that, in the case of these disqualifications, no rights have been violated.
“There is no question of any political censorship, restriction of the freedom of speech or deprivation of the right to stand for elections as alleged by some members of the community,” it said in the statement. “Any insults and threats targeting Returning Officers will not be tolerated. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data and law enforcement agencies including the Police will follow up on such hostile behaviours.”
A United States State Department official told the Washington Examiner that the department was concerned about word of the arrests and the disqualification of pro-democracy candidates.
“This is a worrying precedent and demonstrates the chilling effect of the new law on the rights and freedoms of people in Hong Kong. It also highlights Beijing’s dystopian vision of an invasive information security state, where even private conversations are subject to government scrutiny,” the official said of the arrests.
“These actions are further evidence of Beijing’s ongoing evisceration of Hong Kong’s autonomy as well as of its failure to abide by international obligations under the Sino-British Joint Declaration, a U.N.-registered treaty, and the rights guaranteed under the Basic Law. We continue to watch these cases closely,” the official added.
