British delegation in Hong Kong to study legal reasons behind Agnes Chow’s by-election ban
Chairman of parliamentary committee on China says group wants to understand what Hong Kong law says ‘about the restrictions on anybody to stand for elected office’
Its sense of duty aside, can Britain play a relevant role in Hong Kong’s efforts to preserve its autonomy?
Graham, who was with six other members of the group, said the delegation hoped to learn more about the legal basis of the ban on Chow. The young activist was barred from running for a Legislative Council seat, election officials said, because her party, Demosisto, advocates self-determination for Hong Kong.
“That’s exactly one of the issues we want to understand: what does Hong Kong law say about the restrictions on anybody to stand for elected office. In the UK, there are no particular restrictions on what people have said in the past that would prevent them from standing for parliament,” the Conservative MP said. “I want to understand what the law says at the moment and therefore what the restrictions on candidates are in law.”