Pro-democracy figure Joshua Wong slammed election officials’ decision today to disqualify him from running in next month’s district council elections, urging people to instead support his “plan B candidate,” and insisting that the setback won’t put a stop to his activism.
Speaking to reporters at Civic Square in Admiralty, Wong suggested that the decision was based more on his reputation in the eyes of the establishment as a troublemaker than his political views and affiliation with the localist party Demosisto, which he helped to found.
“The decision to ban me from running for office is clearly politically driven,” the prominent activist said. “The so-called reason is judging subjectively on my intention to uphold Basic Law. But everyone would know that the true reason is that my identity, Joshua Wong, is the crime in their mind.”
“Beijing has deprived me of the right to institutional participation permanently,” he added. “But no matter [whether] they lock me up in prison [or] censor me from the ballot, my commitment to the democracy movement in Hong Kong will never be eroded by Beijing and President Xi [Jinping].”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFlmeuR9_ww
Wong went on to urge people to vote for his replacement, Kelvin Lam, saying the election would be a “de facto referendum on political censorship.”
News of Wong’s disqualification — he was reportedly the only one of some 1,100 applicants to see his candidacy rejected — came this morning in the form of a pro forma notice from election official Laura Aron. Aron had been appointed to vet Wong’s candidacy after the official originally in charge abruptly went on extended sick leave after delaying a decision on Wong’s candidacy for weeks.
While the notice itself didn’t elaborate on the reason for Wong’s disqualification, the government today released a statement that appeared to obliquely refer to Wong’s case without mentioning him by name.
“The constitutional and legal status of the HKSAR is very clear,” the statement reads, before listing the portions of the Basic Law that stipulate Hong Kong is a part of the People’s Republic of China.
“‘Self-determination’ or changing the HKSAR system by supporting the independence of Hong Kong as an option for self-determination is inconsistent with the constitutional and legal status of the HKSAR as stipulated in the Basic Law, as well as the established basic policies of the PRC regarding Hong Kong.”
Wong and several other pro-democracy candidates had been asked to clarify their views on Hong Kong independence — a red line for Beijing — before their candidacies could be approved.
All of them — including Wong — denied considering independence an option for Hong Kong, and all of them — except for Wong — saw their candidacies validated.
Today’s statement appears to conflate the notion of self-determination, which Wong has espoused, with calls for independence, concluding that a “advocating or promoting ‘self-determination’ is contrary to the content of the declaration that the law requires a candidate to make to uphold the Basic Law and pledge allegiance to the HKSAR.”
Wrangling over the difference between self-determination and independence was actually at the heart of a recent successful legal challenge brought by Wong’s former fellow Demosisto member, Agnes Chow.
Chow was disqualified from running in a LegCo by-election last year because an election official similarly ruled that her support for self-determination was tantamount to supporting independence, and therefore incompatible with the Basic Law.
A judge ruled that the decision had been inappropriate and that Chow should have been given the opportunity to clarify her stance. The decision did not, however, strike down officials’ broad powers to determine whether such clarifications were acceptable.
Addressing reporters today, Chow said the government was using different methods to suppress democratic participation, saying it had “stripped us of our basic right as Hongkongers.”
Wong went on to say that he, like Chow, may file an electoral petition challenging the decision, noting the similarities between their cases. He went on to say that Beijing had sought to suppress his candidacy due to his international reputation, and that they “must pay the price in the international community.”
Referring to the city’s long-running anti-government protest movement, he added: “Perhaps it might be a bit difficult for world leaders to defend the protest rights of Hongkongers when more and more clashes happen. But it’s a must for them to defend and speak up for the basic fundamental rights for every Hongkonger to run for office.”
