Eight more Hong Kong politicians face ouster
Beijing announces new oath-making guidelines, sparking mass protests
HONG KONG— Eight pro-democracy politicians face being expelled from Hong Kong’s legislature after a member of a taxi drivers’ association asked a court to rule that they did not make proper oaths of office, which could put them in violation of a con- troversial ruling made in Beijing.
The new suit brings to 10 the number of people who were elected in September to Hong Kong’s Legislative Council and may lose their seats. Two others, Sixtus Leung and Yau Wai-ching, infuriated the Chinese government when they inserted a derogatory term for China into their oaths and pledged loyalty to the “Hong Kong nation.”
Their actions prompted Beijing to announce new guidelines on Monday specifying that oaths must be made “sincerely and solemnly” and be read accurately.
On Sunday, news of the impending ruling from Beijing set off large street protests in Hong Kong, ending with a clash between the police and protesters in which officers in riot gear used pepper spray on demonstrators. On Tuesday, after the ruling, hundreds of lawyers, concerned that China was undermining the court system, marched through the city’s central business district.
Even though Hong Kong, a British colony until 1997, has considerable autonomy, China can issue interpre- tations of the territory’s mini-constitution that must be taken into account by Hong Kong’s judges.
The new case concerns the Legislative Council’s decision to accept oaths from six of the eight politicians and to let the two others retake theirs after their first try was rejected, according to filings to the High Court.
In an interview with the local RTHK public broadcasting service, Robin Cheng Yuk-kai, the former chairperson of the Taxi Drivers and Operators Association, displayed the application for review.
“The variations in their oath mean one thing, that they did not sincerely take the oath,” Cheng said in the interview. “If they did not sincerely swear allegiance to the country and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, how are they qualified to become Hong Kong’s legislators?”
It is unclear what interest Cheng has in the case, although the taxi drivers’ association is a corporate member of the transport functional constituency, a system in Hong Kong in which trade groups are given seats on the Legislative Council.