26 TheEconomistNovember 14th 2020
1T
here is“nothing to be ashamed of”,
said Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam,
when asked how she would feel about the
territory’s legislature passing controver-
sial bills after being stripped of an opposi-
tion by the expulsions and resignations of
pro-democracy lawmakers. “We are more
excited when bills are passed more effi-
ciently.” Mrs Lam’s remarks on November
11th signalled a dark new phase of China’s
campaign to snuff out Hong Kong’s free-
doms and usher in rule by rubber stamp as
practised on the Chinese mainland.
Storm clouds had been gathering over
the Legislative Council (commonly known
as Legco) ever since China imposed a dra-
conian national-security law on Hong
Kong on June 30th. In July the local govern-
ment barred 12 politicians, including four
sitting members of Legco, from standing in
elections that were due to be held in Sep-
tember. It accused them of opposing the
new law and other political misbehaviour.
Shortly afterwards it postponed the elec-
tions for a year, citing the pandemic.
Early this month police arrested eight
opposition politicians, including five
Legco members, for their alleged involve-ment in a scuffle in the chamber. Then
came the ruling by the parliament in Bei-
jing, the National People’s Congress (npc),
that resulted in the final purge and, on the
same day, Mrs Lam’s chilling response. It
said Hong Kong’s government could disbar
any legislator who did not accept Chinese
rule in Hong Kong or who otherwise violat-
ed national security.
The Hong Kong authorities responded
swiftly to the npc’s edict. It declared that
the four legislators who had been barred
from re-election would also be stripped of
their seats. In response, 15 other opposition
lawmakers held a press conference to an-
nounce they would resign in sympathy (see
picture). With two others from their camp
having already stepped down in September
in protest against the postponement of the
polls, their move would leave Legco with
no opposition voice for the first time in de-
cades. The legislators were formally sub-mitting their resignations as The Economist
went to press.
Just a year ago prospects looked much
brighter for pro-democracy politicians. In
local-council elections, held in November
2019 during anti-government unrest that
had been sweeping the city since mid-year,
they made unprecedented gains. It was
widely believed that they would have
achieved similar success in this year’s
Legco polls, if they had been held—even
though only half of the body’s 70 seats are
directly elected. By issuing this week’s rul-
ing the npchas made it clear that even if
opposition politicians were to win a major-
ity of seats (in the most recent elections in
2016 they fell just short), their numbers
could be whittled down again at the gov-
ernment’s whim.
The four legislators who were disbarred
following the npc’s ruling were Dennis
Kwok, Kwok Ka-ki, Kenneth Leung and Al-
vin Yeung. They are hardly radicals. “We
follow the rules of procedure, we wear
suits. The four of us—two lawyers, one
doctor, one accountant—are the most
moderate of moderates,” says Dennis
Kwok. The government has not spelled out
why they were kicked out. But in July, when
they were disqualified from standing
again, they were variously accused of sign-
ing petitions against the national-security
law, pledging to block passage of the bud-
get were democrats to gain a majority and
supporting American sanctions on Hong
Kong. In March Mr Leung travelled to Cali-
fornia to attend a conference about such
sanctions. But he says he did not encouragePolitics in Hong KongLeaving in despair
HONG KONG
Expulsions and resignations strip the territory’s legislature of a vocal oppositionChina
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