Authorities in Hong Kong have barred several candidates from taking part in forthcoming elections to the city’s legislature, citing the candidates' support for independence for the former British colony.
Election officials on Tuesday rejected the candidacy of Edward Leung of the Hong Kong Indigenous political group in city-wide elections for seats on the Legislative Council (LegCo) in early September.
Leung had already received more than 60,000 votes in a February by-election, and his candidacy was seen as representative of a groundswell of support for independence, particularly among the city’s younger voters.
The decision by Hong Kong’s Electoral Affairs Commission came after Leung had denied supporting independence, signed a controversial new declaration recognizing his home city as “an inalienable part of China,” and distanced himself from previous comments that were widely reported in the local media.
The commission had previously also rejected Hong Kong National Party hopeful Chan Ho-tin, Yeung Ke-cheong of the Democratic Progressive Party of Hong Kong, Nakade Hitsujiko of Nationalist Hong Kong, Chan Kwok-keung, and Alice Lai of the Conservative Party of Hong Kong.
But another Hong Kong Indigenous candidate, Baggio Leung, was confirmed as able to run in Edward Leung’s place.
Ruled from Beijing
Edward Leung on Tuesday hit out at the decision to disqualify him, saying Hong Kong is now under the rule of a "dictatorship".
“Hong Kong nowadays is not a place [where there is] rule of law,” Leung told reporters. “It is a place ruled a man, by the [ruling Chinese] Communist Party, by [the] Beijing authorities.”
Leung said the people of Hong Kong will continue to fight for their autonomy, government broadcaster RTHK reported.
Hong Kong was promised a “high degree of autonomy” under the terms of its 1997 handover from Britain to China, but many fear the city’s traditional freedoms may now be a thing of the past, as Beijing seeks to wield ever greater influence over the city’s media, publishing, and political scene.
China analyst Willy Lam said the barring of candidates in elections based on their political views has never happened before.
"This is the first time, I think, in the history of Legco elections when returning officers actually make a political judgement based on the views expressed by the candidate on various public occasions," Lam told RTHK.
“It’s difficult to justify, I think, disqualifying them based on these views, which they might change later on if they were elected,” he said.
Call for review, boycott
Meanwhile, the National Party’s Chan has vowed to bring a judicial review of the government’s decision.
The National Party called on other parties to boycott the elections following the barring of candidates.
“The National Party is honoured to become the first party to be banned from joining a democratic election by the government due to political difference,” the party said in a statement on its Facebook page.
It said the bans were in breach of Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, the Basic Law.
Almost 40 percent of young people in Hong Kong favor independence for the city in 2047, when existing arrangements with China expire, a recent opinion survey found.
Nearly two out of five people in the 15-24 age group said they want the city to go its own way when the "one country, two systems" policy, promised under the terms of the city's 1997 handover to China, ends.
The findings appeared in a recent survey by public opinion researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), who interviewed 1,010 people aged 15 and above between July 6 and 15.
Across the whole age range, 17.4 percent said they favor independence post-2047, compared with 39.2 percent of the 15-24 age group.
A number of pro-independence candidates announced their bids to run in the Sept. 4 Legislative Council elections last month.
The EAC announced on July 14 that all candidates must sign an additional declaration rejecting secession, warning that those who refused could be disqualified. Chinese officials also weighed in with public comments against the candidacy of pro-independence politicians.
Reported by RFA's Cantonese and Mandarin Services. Translated and written in English by Luisetta Mudie.