Opinion | Move to sideline Hong Kong independence candidates is a misguided strategy
Gary Cheung says the rule requiring Legislative Council candidates to pledge their loyalty, by stating Hong Kong is an inalienable part of China, is overkill by anxious election officials
Four months later, Hong Kong’s election officials have introduced a measure requiring candidates to sign a form declaring the city an inalienable part of China, on top of the standard declaration to uphold the Basic Law. The move may help turn Feng’s prediction to reality.
A few weeks before the Legco by-election for New Territories East in February, the Registration and Electoral Office refused to mail the politically sensitive election leaflets submitted by localist candidate Edward Leung Tin-kei. The office justified its stance by saying that words in the leaflets like “self-determination”, “self-rule” and “autonomy” are “fundamentally in breach of the Basic Law”, which states that Hong Kong is an inalienable part of China.
Onus is on government to explain why Legco candidates need to sign new ‘loyalty’ declaration
Ironically, the ban raised the public profile of Leung, an independence advocate. The University of Hong Kong student – a nobody before the Mong Kong riot on February 8 – stunned pundits and politicians alike by clinching 15.4 per cent of total valid votes cast in the by-election.
The new rule imposed by the election watchdog, which is on top of the standard declaration to uphold the Basic Law and pledge allegiance to the city, shows government officials have not learned the lesson from the refusal to mail Leung’s election material.