People who chant ‘end one-party dictatorship’ slogan are breaking law and should be banned from seeking political office, says Wang Guangya

Beijing’s former top official in charge of Hong Kong affairs enters heated debate over whether those who call for end of ‘one-party dictatorship’ should be disqualified from elections

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Wang Guangya, former director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, called the slogans a ‘lawbreaking act’. Photo: Laura Zhou

Published: 2:29pm, 25 Apr 2018Updated: 10:44pm, 25 Apr 2018

Hongkongers who chant slogans in favour of ending one-party rule in China are breaking the law and should not be allowed to run for political office, Beijing’s former top official in charge of the city’s affairs said on Wednesday.

“The national constitution stipulates the country is led by the Chinese Communist Party,” Wang Guangya told reporters in the capital, before attending a National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee meeting.

Wang – who was director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) until last year – was weighing in on a debate that erupted in March when Tam Yiu-chung, Hong Kong’s sole delegate to the standing committee, said those who call for an “end to one-party dictatorship” risk disqualification from elections.

Tam said this after the NPC passed constitutional amendments that further underlined the undisputed authority of the party.

Liaison office director Wang Zhimin called the slogan a ‘false proposition’. Photo: Sam Tsang

Wang, now a member of the standing committee, was speaking two days after Wang Zhimin, head of Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong, said it was “politically unethical” to call for an end to one-party dictatorship yet still want to be a lawmaker and part of the establishment.

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