https://www.scmp.com/rss/323659/feed In October 2016, controversy arose in Hong Kong's Legislative Council as localist lawmakers-elect Sixtus Baggio Leung Chung-hang and Yau Wai-ching and others were accused of failing to properly take their oaths of office. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com The political pendulum swings as the district councils made up of “patriots” begin a new term. While the operation is expected to be totally different from that during the previous opposition-led era, the revamped lower-tier structure must not become just an echo chamber of the government. In addition to helping the implementation of public policies, it should also reflect the views of the people and strive to improve their livelihoods. The 18 municipal bodies held their inaugural meetings this... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3247485/new-hong-kong-district-councils-must-put-people-and-their-livelihoods-first?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3247485/new-hong-kong-district-councils-must-put-people-and-their-livelihoods-first?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 05 Jan 2024 22:15:10 +0000 Hong Kong’s opposition parties have good reason to be disappointed. They have failed to secure enough nominations to allow any hopefuls to stand for the coming district council elections on December 10. This hopeless feeling is captured in the words of Lo Kin-hei, chairman of the Democratic Party, the biggest opposition group in the city, when he said: “We feel a great sense of powerlessness.” The party has no seats in the Legislative Council, and will have no seats at the district level either... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3241510/district-council-elections-how-hong-kong-opposition-parties-can-reinvent-themselves?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3241510/district-council-elections-how-hong-kong-opposition-parties-can-reinvent-themselves?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Nov 2023 08:30:23 +0000 A recruitment exercise will be launched to find a new head for the secretariat of Hong Kong’s legislature to replace incumbent Kenneth Chen Wei-on who retires next year. Legislative Council president Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen on Monday acknowledged Chen’s efforts in leading the 600 secretariat staff over the past 11 years, especially in overcoming “numerous challenges” during the sixth term of the legislature. He was referring to the previous term, which was marked by several controversies,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3227141/hong-kong-legislature-launch-search-new-secretary-general-replace-veteran-kenneth-chen-who-retires?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3227141/hong-kong-legislature-launch-search-new-secretary-general-replace-veteran-kenneth-chen-who-retires?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 10 Jul 2023 06:54:14 +0000 This article was first published in the South China Morning Post on October 13, 2016. It has been republished online as part of Hong Kong 25, which looks at how the city has changed since the handover, and what its future holds. By Joyce Ng, Stuart Lau and Owen Fung Hong Kong’s newly elected legislature descended into open war yesterday with localists brandishing “Hong Kong is not China” banners at their swearing- in ceremony, while a pro-establishment stalwart was elected president after being... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3179238/october-12-2016-declaration-war-hong-kong-legco-opens?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3179238/october-12-2016-declaration-war-hong-kong-legco-opens?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Jun 2022 13:30:22 +0000 The new Legislative Council term has seemingly got off to a good start, with all members sworn into office without any drama on Monday. This is in stark contrast to the past, when some opposition members made use of the occasion to make political statements only to lose their seats on the grounds that they had not taken their oaths properly. Whether an uneventful ceremony bodes well for the future remains to be seen, but there is certainly more to the work of the legislature than just pledging... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3162001/hard-work-begins-after-hong-kong-oaths-end?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3162001/hard-work-begins-after-hong-kong-oaths-end?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Jan 2022 23:30:33 +0000 All 90 of Hong Kong’s newly elected lawmakers returned under Beijing’s “patriots-only” overhaul of the political system were sworn in on Monday in a ceremony officiated by Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, with none of the oath-taking protest antics by opposition legislators that led to their disqualification in 2016. The city’s red-and-white emblem featuring the bauhinia flower that is usually displayed in the Legislative Council chamber was replaced by a national one for the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3161926/hong-kong-leader-carrie-lam-oversees-swearing-90-new?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3161926/hong-kong-leader-carrie-lam-oversees-swearing-90-new?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Jan 2022 07:08:11 +0000 Members of the body that regulates Hong Kong’s 27,000 social workers will be required to take an oath of allegiance to the city under a government plan aimed at safeguarding national security, according to the labour minister. Law Chi-kwong, the secretary for labour and welfare, also said he wanted to clear up a common misconception that the Social Workers Registration Board was set up to protect the working rights of the profession. He insisted the organisation was not a workers’ union and... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3156865/national-security-law-hong-kong-labour-minister-says-social?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3156865/national-security-law-hong-kong-labour-minister-says-social?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 21 Nov 2021 10:49:20 +0000 The Legislative Council has never seen more drama than in the past five years. Evolving from having the biggest ever opposition bloc to completely controlled by pro-government factions, the assembly has gone through an extraordinarily eventful term. At the height of the 2019 social unrest, the chamber was even stormed by protesters. But it sprang back during a Beijing-extended tenure, passing a record number of laws and funding proposals without dissent. As the curtain falls on its current term,... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3153927/loyal-legco-not-tantamount-carte-blanche-officials?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3153927/loyal-legco-not-tantamount-carte-blanche-officials?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Oct 2021 23:30:24 +0000 The United States, Britain and the European Union accused the Hong Kong government of stripping Hongkongers’ democratic rights on Thursday, following further disqualifications of opposition district councillors for allegedly insufficient loyalty to the city. Earlier on Thursday, Hong Kong’s home affairs chief announced that 16 district councillors would be ousted from their positions because of invalid oaths, bringing the total number of recently unseated municipal-level politicians to... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3153223/us-and-britain-voice-objections-hong-kongs-disqualification-opposition?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3153223/us-and-britain-voice-objections-hong-kongs-disqualification-opposition?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Oct 2021 16:36:16 +0000 Another 16 opposition district councillors were unseated by Hong Kong’s home affairs chief on Thursday, bringing the total number of municipal-level politicians ousted to 55. Among the latest to be disqualified over their oath-taking were seven Democratic Party members. They included former lawmaker Roy Kwong Chun-yu, Yuen Long District Council chairman Zachary Wong Wai-yin and Tsuen Wan District Council vice-chairman Li Hung-por. Kwong, also a Yuen Long district councillor, was arrested under... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3153112/more-hong-kong-opposition-district-councillors-ousted-after?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3153112/more-hong-kong-opposition-district-councillors-ousted-after?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Oct 2021 04:26:45 +0000 Hong Kong’s home affairs chief said on Thursday that the role of district councils should be reviewed once all municipal-level politicians had taken their oaths. Caspar Tsui Ying-wai reiterated his support for examining the “direction” of the local authorities a day after disqualifying seven opposition district councillors on the grounds their past conduct had left him unconvinced the vows they made last Friday were genuine. Under the national security law, Hong Kong’s oath-taking requirements –... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3149035/role-hong-kongs-district-councils-needs-reviewing-home?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3149035/role-hong-kongs-district-councils-needs-reviewing-home?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Sep 2021 11:44:24 +0000 Hong Kong’s top court has thrown out a last-ditch appeal by ousted pro-independence lawmaker Sixtus Baggio Leung Chung-hang, who was jailed for storming a Legislative Council meeting five years ago in a bid to take his oath of office. The Court of Final Appeal on Friday said Leung’s challenge against his conviction for taking part in an unlawful assembly in November 2016 raised an important question of law – but that it “must be dismissed” regardless of the answer. At issue was the proper... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3141455/hong-kong-court-rejects-ousted-lawmakers-final-bid?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3141455/hong-kong-court-rejects-ousted-lawmakers-final-bid?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Jul 2021 11:42:53 +0000 Ousted Hong Kong lawmaker Sixtus Baggio Leung Chung-hang has made a last-ditch attempt to challenge his criminal conviction for storming a Legislative Council meeting five years ago in a bid to take his oath of office. Leung lost his first appeal against conviction last September for taking part in an unlawful assembly, with the High Court finding the 34-year-old had displayed violent behaviour involving illegal force during the chaotic incident on November 2, 2016. Ousted lawmaker Baggio Leung... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3138326/ousted-hong-kong-lawmaker-last-ditch-bid-overturn?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3138326/ousted-hong-kong-lawmaker-last-ditch-bid-overturn?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Jun 2021 09:45:51 +0000 At least 150 Hong Kong district councillors could be unseated over their roles in an unofficial primary election when they are vetted next month under new oath-taking legislation, in what would strike another heavy blow to the city’s beleaguered opposition. Councillors face disqualification not only for taking part in the opposition’s primary run-off last summer to pick the bloc’s Legislative Council candidates, but also for letting the camp use their district offices as polling stations,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3137560/national-security-law-least-150-hong-kong-district?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3137560/national-security-law-least-150-hong-kong-district?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 16 Jun 2021 14:30:52 +0000 Extended oath-taking rules will cover Hong Kong government staff on non-civil service contracts, hours after a related allegiance law took effect and resulted in the immediate disqualification of two opposition district councillors. The Civil Service Bureau announced on Friday that more than 22,000 full-time and part-time staff hired on those contracts – who typically hold more casual roles – were now subject to the same allegiance requirements as the rest of its workforce, and faced losing... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3134414/oath-taking-rules-extended-hong-kong-government-staff-non?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3134414/oath-taking-rules-extended-hong-kong-government-staff-non?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 May 2021 12:11:33 +0000 Nearly 2,000 civil servants quit working for the Hong Kong government in 2020-21, according to the latest figures, the most in at least 15 years. That also accounted for about a fifth of those who left the service for various reasons in the past financial year. The number choosing to leave has steadily been rising since 2006-07 when about 400 government workers – around 0.3 per cent – left. The number surpassed the 1,000 mark in 2015-16, or roughly 0.65 per cent, according to a paper prepared... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3133259/number-hong-kong-civil-servants-quitting-government-hits-15?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3133259/number-hong-kong-civil-servants-quitting-government-hits-15?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 12 May 2021 15:07:27 +0000 Beijing accused Britain on Thursday of sheltering wanted suspects by granting political asylum to Hong Kong fugitive and former opposition lawmaker Nathan Law Kwun-chung, and demanded that London reverse the decision. Law revealed his refugee status in Britain a day earlier, some nine months after fleeing for the country ahead of last summer’s introduction of the national security law in Hong Kong. Hong Kong activist Nathan Law reveals he has applied for political asylum in Britain “If the UK... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3128670/fugitive-hong-kong-activist-nathan-law-granted-political?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3128670/fugitive-hong-kong-activist-nathan-law-granted-political?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Apr 2021 16:44:50 +0000 A number of Hong Kong opposition district councillors have said they would rather resign than take an oath of allegiance, with some worried that even if they gave in to the new requirement, they could be asked to return public funds if their pledges were later deemed unconvincing. While many of the 452 district councillors in the city said they would stay in office as they did not want to hand over their seats, at least four raised concerns over the drastic outcome if authorities eventually... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3127263/opposition-hong-kong-district-councillors-ready-quit-rather?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3127263/opposition-hong-kong-district-councillors-ready-quit-rather?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 28 Mar 2021 00:30:13 +0000 Has 2047 arrived early for Hong Kong’s electoral politics? Having created functional constituencies to ensure safe hands would dominate the Legislative Council in the final years of British rule, the departing colonial authorities opened a few seats to direct election and infused the legislature with a sense of importance, such as by introducing governor’s question time. Beijing was willing to let Hong Kong experiment with elections then. It assumed that by 2007, a decade after the transition,... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/hong-kong/article/3125821/hong-kong-election-reform-beijing-demanding-loyalty?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/hong-kong/article/3125821/hong-kong-election-reform-beijing-demanding-loyalty?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Mar 2021 01:15:16 +0000 A Hong Kong court has declared former opposition lawmaker Sixtus Baggio Leung Chung-hang bankrupt over his failure to repay some HK$930,000 in wages and operating expenses he received before he was booted from the legislature in 2016. Master Hui Ka-ho of the High Court on Wednesday ruled in favour of the Legislative Council Commission about a month after Leung publicly announced he had departed for the US on November 29, severed all ties with his family in Hong Kong and resigned from... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3116666/hong-kong-court-declares-ex-opposition-lawmaker-sixtus?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3116666/hong-kong-court-declares-ex-opposition-lawmaker-sixtus?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Jan 2021 11:08:56 +0000 Hong Kong activist and former opposition lawmaker Nathan Law Kwun-chung has applied for political asylum in Britain, six months after he went into self-imposed exile in London. The former student leader, who was ousted from the legislature in 2017 for improperly taking his oath, said he chose to stay in Britain because he hoped to “sound an alarm to remind” the country and Europe of the danger posed by the Chinese Communist Party to the values of democracy. In an opinion piece published on... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3114857/hong-kong-activist-nathan-law-reveals-he-has-applied?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3114857/hong-kong-activist-nathan-law-reveals-he-has-applied?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 21 Dec 2020 17:33:07 +0000 Lo Kin-hei is not someone widely recognised in Hong Kong, but it looks like that is about to change. At 36, the registered social worker and opposition politician has just become the youngest person to helm the city’s largest traditional pan-democratic party. He was elected chairman of the Democratic Party early this month, at possibly the lowest point for opposition politicians and at a time when many are wondering if the party ought to contest elections again. Fifteen opposition lawmakers... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3113768/democratic-party-picks-mild-not-controversial-lo-kin-hei?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3113768/democratic-party-picks-mild-not-controversial-lo-kin-hei?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Dec 2020 01:00:17 +0000 Former lawmaker Sixtus Baggio Leung Chung-hang has left Hong Kong for the United States, where he is seeking asylum. Haven Assistance, a group formed by activists in exile, revealed on Friday evening that Leung had departed for the US on November 30 after facing “profound political persecution” in Hong Kong. “Mr Leung sees the asylum as a new starting point for Hong Kong’s democratic cause,” the group said in a statement on Facebook. “Currently Mr Leung has no issues with his health, and his... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3113670/former-hong-kong-lawmaker-sixtus-baggio-leung-has-left-hong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3113670/former-hong-kong-lawmaker-sixtus-baggio-leung-has-left-hong?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Dec 2020 17:29:40 +0000 In response to Beijing’s resolution effectively disqualifying four democratic legislative councillors last month, the remaining lawmakers in the democratic camp resigned en masse in protest. Beijing’s sudden move must have occurred because it was angered by democratic lawmakers’ tactics in the Legislative Council, which were stopping the Hong Kong government from passing laws as it pleased. Therefore, Beijing threw a tantrum by moving to exercise complete control over Hong Kong’s internal... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3112980/why-hong-kong-should-not-give-democratic-elections-despite?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3112980/why-hong-kong-should-not-give-democratic-elections-despite?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Dec 2020 00:30:14 +0000 Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor had pinned high hopes on her latest policy address, assuring residents of the central government’s unwavering support to jump-start the city’s sputtering economy as she listed out initiative after initiative over more than two hours on Wednesday. Her mission, as she pledged earlier, had been to restore confidence in the people amid the doom and gloom of the coronavirus pandemic. She titled her speech “Striving ahead with renewed perseverance”. But... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3111389/big-bang-or-damp-squib-why-hong-kong-leaders-2020-policy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3111389/big-bang-or-damp-squib-why-hong-kong-leaders-2020-policy?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Nov 2020 00:00:27 +0000 All Hong Kong lawmakers who failed to fulfil their oath of allegiance and uphold the Basic Law will be dealt with by legislative amendments to be tabled next month, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor revealed in her annual policy address on Wednesday. In a speech heavily focused on politics, Lam said one of the city’s most urgent priorities was to restore its constitutional order and political system after the chaos of the previous year, as she set out identifying new measures to... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3111387/hong-kong-leader-outlines-steps-move-city-past-political?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3111387/hong-kong-leader-outlines-steps-move-city-past-political?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Nov 2020 16:00:51 +0000 Barrister Dennis Kwok is the latest prominent pan-democrat to quit politics completely. His departure from the local political scene follows that of democracy icons Anson Chan Fang On-sang and Martin Lee Chu-ming, as well as former fellow Civic Party colleague Tanya Chan. Kwok blamed his disqualification as a lawmaker, along with three other pan-democrats, by the government for his decision to quit. That is no doubt a big part of the problem. But the reality is that they have no grass-roots or... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3110911/end-road-dennis-kwok?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3110911/end-road-dennis-kwok?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Nov 2020 14:45:55 +0000 There were shock waves when Beijing passed a resolution on November 11 which resulted in the ousting of four opposition lawmakers from Hong Kong’s Legislative Council. Even members of the pro-establishment camp were taken aback. The disqualification of the four men led all 15 remaining opposition lawmakers to resign en masse on November 12, leaving Legco with 41 pro-establishment members and two independents. Prominent Hong Kong lawmaker says he is leaving politics The sudden absence of... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3110881/echo-chamber-or-sound-politics-how-will-hong-kongs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3110881/echo-chamber-or-sound-politics-how-will-hong-kongs?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Nov 2020 08:00:15 +0000 After Beijing’s decision to disqualify four opposition Legislative Council members, the majority of lawmakers from the pro-democracy camp decided to resign collectively. It is not hard to see why plenty of Hong Kong citizens feel this is the end of “one country, two systems” (“The dawn of ‘one country, one system’ for Hong Kong”, November 13); that Hong Kong, the political compromise made between Deng Xiaoping and Margaret Thatcher, has eventually degenerated into a typical mainland Chinese city... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3110234/time-hong-kong-consider-what-kind-relationship-it-wants-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3110234/time-hong-kong-consider-what-kind-relationship-it-wants-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Nov 2020 22:15:06 +0000 In the 1960s, the Barisan Sosialis (Socialist Front), formed by the expelled left-wing members of the governing People’s Action Party (PAP), led by Lee Kuan Yew, was once a formidable political force in Singapore. But it made a major strategic mistake by not taking part in the 1968 general election, allowing the PAP to grab all the parliamentary seats. Since then, the PAP has become the entrenched ruling party, winning every election. Barisan was unable to make a political comeback and finally... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3110021/oppositions-departure-hong-kong-legislature-signals-end-era?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3110021/oppositions-departure-hong-kong-legislature-signals-end-era?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Nov 2020 01:15:07 +0000 Most of us know about gotcha journalism, which uses techniques to entrap interviewees. Last week, Hongkongers had front-row seats to some gotcha politics, in which four lawmakers were ousted from the Legislative Council, leading to the mass resignation of the opposition. The move was the opposition camp’s last show of solidarity in protest at the surprise resolution passed by the National People’s Congress Standing Committee last Wednesday giving the Hong Kong government the power to expel... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3109796/whole-hong-kong-paying-recklessness-few-opposition-lawmakers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3109796/whole-hong-kong-paying-recklessness-few-opposition-lawmakers?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Nov 2020 00:45:17 +0000 The National People’s Congress Standing Committee’s unexpected move to disqualify four pan-democrat lawmakers in Hong Kong has shocked many people. This act draws a new red line on the opposition’s participation in the city’s political system. However, I am afraid its effect extends not just to the city’s politicians but also to the general public of Hong Kong (“Who are Hong Kong’s ousted Legco members, and what exactly did they do?”, November 11). One detail may have been overlooked by... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3109556/hong-kong-has-entered-one-country-one-system?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3109556/hong-kong-has-entered-one-country-one-system?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Nov 2020 22:15:08 +0000 Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor confirmed on Wednesday that it was she who asked Beijing to clarify how lawmakers could be disqualified, because there was confusion over whether legislators banned from seeking re-election could serve out their extended term. Lam also said the move had nothing to do with filibustering and that the government would amend relevant constitutional and electoral regulations to align them with the resolution issued by China’s top legislative body on... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3109460/why-pundits-are-split-over-hong-kong-leader-carrie-lams?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3109460/why-pundits-are-split-over-hong-kong-leader-carrie-lams?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Nov 2020 00:00:21 +0000 Hong Kong’s opposition lawmakers will all resign together to protest against the disqualification of four colleagues after China’s top legislative body empowered the local government to unseat politicians without having to go through the city’s courts. Under a resolution unanimously endorsed on Wednesday by 161 members of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC), Hong Kong lawmakers will lose their Legislative Council seats immediately if they are deemed to have engaged in a... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3109454/mass-resignation-hong-kong-opposition-lawmakers-after?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3109454/mass-resignation-hong-kong-opposition-lawmakers-after?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Nov 2020 15:16:43 +0000 A massive political storm erupted in Hong Kong’s legislature again after sources revealed on Monday that China’s top legislative body was mulling over plans to disqualify lawmakers in a bid to curb filibustering. In response, the city’s 19 opposition lawmakers raised the stakes in an impending showdown with the local and Beijing governments by threatening to resign all at once if anyone among them was unseated. The four facing the risk of being thrown out of the Legislative Council were the... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3109297/what-might-lie-ahead-hong-kong-if-beijing-moves-disqualify?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3109297/what-might-lie-ahead-hong-kong-if-beijing-moves-disqualify?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Nov 2020 02:30:11 +0000 A resolution by China’s top legislative body on the allegiance of Hong Kong lawmakers is expected to come under intense constitutional scrutiny, top legal experts and an adviser to the city’s leader say. The decision, which could lead to fresh disqualification of filibustering opposition members, may even run into difficulty given existing laws that require a two-thirds approval of the Legislative Council to kick out certain offending members, they warned. The National People’s Congress Standing... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3109292/removing-hong-kong-lawmakers-office-already-difficult-even?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3109292/removing-hong-kong-lawmakers-office-already-difficult-even?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Nov 2020 01:30:17 +0000 Hands joined in a show of solidarity, defiant Hong Kong opposition lawmakers on Monday threatened a mass resignation if Beijing moved to have any of them disqualified. But as their press conference was being live-streamed, their biggest critics, ironically, appeared not to be their pro-Beijing counterparts but their own allies. “You should have resigned from the very beginning – now you only have yourselves to blame for being played by the authorities,” one wrote on Facebook. Another added... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3109295/defiant-hong-kong-opposition-lawmakers-under-fire-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3109295/defiant-hong-kong-opposition-lawmakers-under-fire-beijing?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Nov 2020 23:30:12 +0000 Most opposition lawmakers have made the right decision to stay on after an opinion poll showed their supporters were divided. This followed the government’s postponement of the September Legislative Council elections for at least a year and extension of the normal four-year term as part of the emergency response to the coronavirus pandemic. Some lawmakers say this does not justify extending the mandate they won at the last election. The vote of 47.1 per cent in favour of staying and 45.8 per... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3103559/checks-and-balances-remain-after-decision-hong-kongs-pan-democrats?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3103559/checks-and-balances-remain-after-decision-hong-kongs-pan-democrats?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Sep 2020 13:50:06 +0000 Hong Kong’s top court on Monday said returning officers must observe all requirements of procedural fairness when deciding on the validity of political nominations in order to promote open, free and fair elections. The Court of Final Appeal also clarified that judges have no “constitutional duty” to decide on candidates’ validity themselves, as such a contention could “dangerously amount to an invitation to a returning officer to just ignore the requirements of procedural justice … in the hope... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3103410/hong-kongs-top-court-reiterates-need-electoral?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3103410/hong-kongs-top-court-reiterates-need-electoral?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 Sep 2020 14:01:30 +0000 Pro-establishment lawmaker Chan Hoi-yan’s ousting from the Legislative Council has put the spotlight once again on Hong Kong’s electoral system, the officials who act as gatekeepers to the polls and where exactly voters’ interests figure into it all. Chan became the third lawmaker – and the first from the pro-establishment camp – elected in a 2018 by-election to lose her seat following petitions to the courts by disqualified candidates. The others ousted were pan-democratic politicians Au... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3103252/what-do-recent-legco-oustings-mean-going-forward-even-after?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3103252/what-do-recent-legco-oustings-mean-going-forward-even-after?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 27 Sep 2020 12:12:17 +0000 Large turnstiles are set to be installed inside Hong Kong’s Legislative Council complex after a committee controlled by pro-establishment lawmakers backed the move in response to opposition members storming meetings. Legco president Andrew Leung Kwan-yuen unveiled the new security measure on Thursday following a closed-door meeting of the Legco Commission, a panel made up of 13 pro-establishment lawmakers overseeing the legislature’s administrative matters. Leung, also the commission’s chairman,... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3100139/hong-kongs-legislative-council-install-large-turnstiles?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3100139/hong-kongs-legislative-council-install-large-turnstiles?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Sep 2020 12:41:52 +0000 It’s easy to criticise your opponents, much more difficult to go against your own comrades in defence of the defenceless. It takes real courage for Henry Wong Pak-yu, a hardcore localist who won a seat on Yuen Long District Council as part of the election landslide in November by anti-government activists, to speak up for the family of Chan Yin-lam. The 15-year-old’s body was found floating at sea last year during the height of the anti-government protests. This week, as an inquest began to... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3099332/courage-shines-cruellest-times?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3099332/courage-shines-cruellest-times?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Aug 2020 13:00:12 +0000 Disqualified lawmaker Lau Siu-lai was denied the opportunity to respond to allegations of not genuinely upholding Hong Kong’s mini-constitution before she was barred from trying to win back her seat in the Legislative Council, a judge has observed. Mr Justice Anderson Chow Ka-ming made the remark on Thursday while hearing an election petition from Lau, who has asked the High Court to determine whether pro-establishment lawmaker Chan Hoi-yan had been duly elected to the office of Kowloon West... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3083388/disqualified-hong-kong-lawmaker-lau-siu-lai-was-denied?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3083388/disqualified-hong-kong-lawmaker-lau-siu-lai-was-denied?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 May 2020 14:53:51 +0000 A pro-establishment lawmaker has dropped out of the race in her party to be a candidate in the Legislative Council elections in September, slamming the process as favouring outsiders. Eunice Yung Hoi-yan pulled out of the New People’s Party primary election for the New Territories East constituency she currently represents as infighting surfaced with her rival for the backing, Dominic Lee Tsz-king, who quit the Liberal Party last Thursday to run in the internal ballot. “Some experiences this... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3075648/hong-kong-lawmaker-pulls-out-new-peoples-party-primary?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3075648/hong-kong-lawmaker-pulls-out-new-peoples-party-primary?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Mar 2020 17:15:29 +0000 A pro-democracy lawmaker who was previously barred from running for a village representative election due to his advocacy for Hong Kong’s “self-determination” was on Tuesday given the green light to run in the district council elections next month. The confirmation from the same electoral official who had banned him last year came after Eddie Chu Hoi-dick gave a single-word response – “yes” – to the question whether he had renounced advocacy for Hong Kong’s independence as an option. Chu, who... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3034111/pro-democracy-lawmaker-eddie-chu-gets-nod-run-district?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3034111/pro-democracy-lawmaker-eddie-chu-gets-nod-run-district?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Oct 2019 14:58:01 +0000 At this point in 2019, it is generally assumed and accepted that Hong Kong’s pro-establishment camp will suffer a devastating blow in the district council elections come November. Instead, pro-establishment lawmakers are looking ahead to the Legislative Council election next year, and holding out the hope that a year will be long enough for people to forgive, or at least forget. More pertinently, they are hoping they can count on the pan-democrats to screw up again. This is not entirely wishful... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3027145/hong-kongs-unrest-vote-no-confidence-opposition-pan-democrats-must?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3027145/hong-kongs-unrest-vote-no-confidence-opposition-pan-democrats-must?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Sep 2019 22:15:12 +0000 A Hong Kong court on Friday overturned the ban on opposition candidate Ventus Lau Wing-hong from contesting a by-election last year, and also declared that the winner was not duly elected. Mr Justice Anderson Chow Ka-ming allowed a petition by the localist candidate from the Community Network Union, who challenged his disqualification from the contest for the Legislative Council’s New Territories East seat. The judge decided that NeoDemocrats lawmaker Gary Fan Kwok-wai, who beat five other... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3027194/hong-kong-court-overturns-ventus-laus-election-ban-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3027194/hong-kong-court-overturns-ventus-laus-election-ban-and?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Sep 2019 12:34:46 +0000 Eight pro-democracy activists charged over a protest against Beijing’s interpretation of Hong Kong’s mini-constitution three years ago were all spared jail on Wednesday. The chairmen of two political parties – Avery Ng Man-yuen, 42, of the League of Social Democrats, and Ivan Lam Long-yin, 24, from Demosisto – were jailed for two weeks at West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court, but had their sentences suspended for a year. Co-defendant Cheng Pui-lun, a 24-year-old former student leader, got the same... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3026776/eight-spared-jail-hong-kong-over-2016-protest-against?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3026776/eight-spared-jail-hong-kong-over-2016-protest-against?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Sep 2019 11:19:44 +0000 At a recent press briefing addressing Hong Kong’s summer of protest, Beijing’s spokesman repeatedly stated that “violence is violence” – a simplistic aphorism on a par with “one country, two systems” in terms of capacity for obscuration. There are fundamental differences between violence against property, physical violence, and institutional violence. Violence against property is vandalism and results in money damages. Physical violence occurs when someone uses or threatens to use their body or... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3021000/hong-kong-has-seen-three-kinds-violence-all-facets-one-fundamental?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3021000/hong-kong-has-seen-three-kinds-violence-all-facets-one-fundamental?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Aug 2019 06:00:14 +0000 An ousted pro-democracy legislator lost a bid to take his case to the top court and reclaim his seat on Thursday. The Court of Appeal ruled “Long Hair” Leung Kwok-hung’s case was “plainly unarguable”. Leung, 63, was one of six opposition lawmakers disqualified between 2016 and 2017 after the government filed a court action over their invalid oaths. The lengthy saga triggered the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, the nation’s top legislative body, to issue an interpretation of... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3014375/ousted-pro-democracy-legislator-long-hair-leung-kwok?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3014375/ousted-pro-democracy-legislator-long-hair-leung-kwok?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Jun 2019 09:22:12 +0000