Calls for Hong Kong self-determination as unlawful as independence talk, senior Beijing official says
Basic Law Committee chairman Li Fei says returning officers acted legally when barring candidates from Legco by-election
A senior Beijing official said on Friday that calls for “self-determination” were no different from the advocacy of Hong Kong independence, and the recent election bans issued by the city’s officials were totally in line with the law.
Two other aspirants were also barred after failing to convince election officers that they had changed their stance on independence.
Responding to reporters on his way to an NPCSC meeting in Beijing, Li said talk of self-determination was in breach of the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution, and on par with the promotion of independence.
“They are the same, no matter what they said,” said Li, who is also deputy secretary general of the NPCSC. “They just shifted the use of words, but the nature is the same.”