My Take | Beijing’s ‘decree’ on oaths a warning to Hong Kong government
The threat to disqualify up to 15 lawmakers is unrealistic, but serves the purpose of getting the city’s authorities to put their house in order
More sabre rattling from Beijing? Besides Sixtus Baggio Leung Chung-hang and Yau Wai-ching, 13 other legislators may lose their seats because of their improper oath-taking.
That’s according to Wang Zhenmin, legal department head of Beijing’s liaison office.
If that’s the case, it means removing half the pan-democratic camp from the Legislative Council. While the prospect is no doubt appealing to Beijing, is it realistic?
If Beijing wants to declare war, it might as well kick out all the pan-democrats and localists from the legislature. The legal and political consequences would be just as dire whether you remove 15 or all 30 of them.
Beijing should quit while it’s still ahead. The latest interpretation by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on the oath-taking of principal officials may be controversial. But it is probably tolerated by many Hong Kong people, who have been genuinely turned off by the offensive and mindless antics of Leung and Yau. There is no dispute that the NPC interpretation will apply to both lawmakers-elect.