Beijing warns Hong Kong radicals over calls for independence
Several pro-independence candidates won seats in Hong Kong's first major election since 2014 protests.
Reuters, Beijing :
Several pro-independence candidates won seats in Hong Kong’s first major election since pro-democracy protests in 2014, prompting a robust warning from China that any independence would damage the city’s security and prosperity.
In comments carried by the official Xinhua news agency, China’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office said it “resolutely opposed” any form of independence for Hong Kong, noting this would violate China’s constitution.
The election of a new generation of pro-democracy activists in a record turnout in Chinese-controlled Hong Kong on Sunday underscores a deep divide in a city of more than 7 million people where tensions with Beijing are intensifying.
China bristles at open dissent, especially over sensitive matters such as demands for universal suffrage, and many in Hong Kong are increasingly concerned about what they see as Beijing’s meddling in the city’s affairs.
In the election, the pro-democracy opposition also kept its crucial one-third veto bloc in the 70-seat Legislative Council over major laws and public funding that has helped check China’s influence.
The vote, which ushered in a new crop of legislators including a 23-year-old former protest leader who vowed to “fight” the Chinese Communist Party, underscores growing frustration with how Beijing has handled its “special administrative region” and marks a significant turning point.
The former British colony was handed back to China in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” agreement that promised to maintain the global financial hub’s freedoms and separate laws for at least 50 years, but gave ultimate control to Beijing.
Beijing officials have repeatedly warned Hong Kong not to stray too far.
Despite the disqualification of six pro-democracy election candidates from the election in July on the grounds that they backed independence, at least five “localists” and younger democratic newcomers won seats, including Nathan Law, one of the leaders of mass democracy protests in 2014.
Those protests posed one of the greatest challenges to Beijing’s rule in decades and were deemed illegal by the local government in Hong Kong and the central government in Beijing.
Localists put the interests of Hong Kong before those of Beijing.
“I’m quite shocked,” said Law. “We inherit some spirit from the movement and I hope that can continue in the future… We still have to unite in order to have stronger power to fight the Chinese Communist Party.”
Several pro-independence candidates won seats in Hong Kong’s first major election since pro-democracy protests in 2014, prompting a robust warning from China that any independence would damage the city’s security and prosperity.
In comments carried by the official Xinhua news agency, China’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office said it “resolutely opposed” any form of independence for Hong Kong, noting this would violate China’s constitution.
The election of a new generation of pro-democracy activists in a record turnout in Chinese-controlled Hong Kong on Sunday underscores a deep divide in a city of more than 7 million people where tensions with Beijing are intensifying.
China bristles at open dissent, especially over sensitive matters such as demands for universal suffrage, and many in Hong Kong are increasingly concerned about what they see as Beijing’s meddling in the city’s affairs.
In the election, the pro-democracy opposition also kept its crucial one-third veto bloc in the 70-seat Legislative Council over major laws and public funding that has helped check China’s influence.
The vote, which ushered in a new crop of legislators including a 23-year-old former protest leader who vowed to “fight” the Chinese Communist Party, underscores growing frustration with how Beijing has handled its “special administrative region” and marks a significant turning point.
The former British colony was handed back to China in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” agreement that promised to maintain the global financial hub’s freedoms and separate laws for at least 50 years, but gave ultimate control to Beijing.
Beijing officials have repeatedly warned Hong Kong not to stray too far.
Despite the disqualification of six pro-democracy election candidates from the election in July on the grounds that they backed independence, at least five “localists” and younger democratic newcomers won seats, including Nathan Law, one of the leaders of mass democracy protests in 2014.
Those protests posed one of the greatest challenges to Beijing’s rule in decades and were deemed illegal by the local government in Hong Kong and the central government in Beijing.
Localists put the interests of Hong Kong before those of Beijing.
“I’m quite shocked,” said Law. “We inherit some spirit from the movement and I hope that can continue in the future… We still have to unite in order to have stronger power to fight the Chinese Communist Party.”
