China defends HK law interpretation to ‘firmly oppose’ secession

HONG KONG: A controversial interpretation by China’s parliament of Hong Kong’s miniconstitution that effectively bars pro-independence lawmakers from taking office, showed Beijing’s resolve to prevent secession, a Chinese leader said on Wednesday.

Chinese leaders are increasingly concerned about a fledgling independence or secessionist movement in the former British colony of Hong Kong, which returned to mainland rule in 1997 amid promises of wide- ranging autonomies including judicial independence under a ‘one country, two systems’ arrangement.

China’s parliament last year staged a rare interpretation of the Basic Law, as Hong Kong’s mini- constitution is called, and staged one of Beijing’s most direct interventions into the city’s legal and political system since the 1997 handover.

“The interpretation fully demonstrates the Chinese central leadership’s resolve in upholding the ‘one country, two systems’ principle and its firm stand against any attempt at secession of Hong Kong from the Chinese nation,” parliament chief Zhang Dejiang said in his annual report to parliament.

The National People’s Congress had ruled last November that all lawmakers must swear allegiance to Hong Kong as part of China and that candidates would be disqualified if they changed the wording of their oath of office or if they failed to take it in a sincere and solemn manner.

Two lawmakers, Yau Waiching and Baggio Leung, who pledged allegiance to a ‘ Hong Kong nation’ during their oath- taking, have since been barred from office after being democratically elected. Four other pro- democracy lawmakers face possible disqualification for improper oath- taking amid ongoing legal proceedings. — Reuter