Beijing’s parliamentary committee will discuss the interpretation of Hong Kong’s Basic Law mini-constitution regarding political allegiance, as the city’s court dliberates on the status of two newly-elected pro-independence lawmakers.
The committee will discuss Article 104 of the Basic Law, which requires legislators to “swear allegiance to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China”, the Hong Kong government said today.
Two newly-elected pro-independence lawmakers had their swearing-in oaths invalidated last month over language and a banner that was deemed derogatory to China.
The Hong Kong government has asked the courts to review a decision by the legislature’s president allowing the lawmakers to re-take their oaths of office.
Many across the political and legal elite of the global financial hub warned intervention from Beijing would deal a severe blow to Hong Kong’s vaunted judicial independence.
The city’s rule of law and freedom of speech is jealously guarded by many in the former British colony after it returned to Chinese rule in 1997 undeer the principle of “one country, two systems”, allowing it wide-ranging freedoms.
Words: Reuters
Got a tip? Send it to us at hongkong@coconuts.co
