HONG KONG: Hong Kong’s high court on Friday expelled four opposition lawmakers from the city’s legislature after it invalidated their oaths of office, a ruling that undermines the influence of the opposition in favour of pro-China legislators.

A former British colony, Hong Kong reverted to China 20 years ago under a “one country, two systems” formula that guaranteed a range of freedoms not enjoyed in China, including a direct vote for half of the 70-seat legislative assembly.

A group of young political activists chaffing against what they see as undue Beijing interference, won seats in an assembly election last year, and some made gestures of defiance at their swearing-in, which authorities have said ruled them out.

Activists say the city government’s efforts in disqualifying democratically elected lawmakers is a direct assault on the city’s freedoms.

In reaching his verdict, judge Thomas Au referred to a November ruling by China’s parliament that city 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 or if they failed to take it in a sincere and solemn manner.

The November ruling was considered Beijing’s most direct intervention in the city’s legal and political system since the 1997 handover, and it effectively barred two elected pro-independence politicians from office.

Among the four disqualified on Friday was Nathan Law, 24, the youngest person to win in a seat and a leader of the “Umbrella movement” protests in 2014.

Law was disqualified for adding words to his oath and adopting a tone of voice that “expressed a doubt on or disrespect of the status of the PRC as a legitimate sovereign of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region,” the court said in a summary of its ruling, referring to the People’s Republic of China. Another of those disqualified was veteran activist Leung Kwok-hung, known as “Long Hair”. At his swearing-in he had brandished a yellow umbrella — the symbol of the 2014 protests — bearing pro-democracy messages, tore up a piece of paper with more protest messages and truncated his oath.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2017