Squeezing Democrats in Hong Kong ‘Mainlandization’ becomes a reality in courts and elections. see note please
https://www.wsj.com/articles/squeezing-democrats-in-hong-kong-1517961314
A warning for Taiwan about unification with China….rsk
Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal overturned prison sentences Tuesday for three students who led prodemocracy protests in 2014. But the defendants didn’t celebrate, because the justices also upheld tougher sentencing guidelines for future cases, and the government is barring other democracy advocates from taking part in elections.
Two years ago a magistrate sentenced Joshua Wong, Nathan Law and Alex Chow to community service and suspended jail terms for leading the civil-disobedience campaign that occupied downtown streets for 75 days. Most of the population supported their request that Beijing honor its promise of universal-suffrage elections for the city’s chief executive. But Beijing refused, and prosecutors then took the rare step of asking for tougher punishment in the Court of Appeal, which imposed jail terms of six to eight months.
The government’s motivation was clear: Convicts sentenced to three months or longer are banned from running for public office for five years. If the activists won seats in the city’s legislature, they could use that platform to demand Beijing honor its promises of autonomy and democracy. Mr. Law was elected to the legislature in 2016. But the Beijing-backed government created new rules that retroactively disqualified him and five others.
By-elections for four of those seats will be held on March 11, and another popular protest leader, Agnes Chow, was expected to replace Mr. Law. An election official disqualified her on grounds that she would not uphold the city’s constitution, the Basic Law, that says Hong Kong is part of China.
The party Ms. Chow and her colleagues founded called for “self-determination” for Hong Kong, and the official interpreted the term as meaning independence from China. Ms. Chow denies that and says the party’s platform refers to the city’s right to choose its own laws as guaranteed by the Basic Law.
The decision sets an important precedent, expanding officials’ scope to screen candidates for public office based on political views. A pro-Beijing scholar suggested candidates could be required to support the passage of antisedition laws mandated by the Basic Law. When the government tried to pass such laws in 2003, more than half a million people took to the streets.
This arbitrary enforcement has angered Hong Kongers used to impartial government decisions. Eight other candidates have been disqualified for pro-independence views in the past two years, and there is no mechanism to appeal. Some allies of Beijing warn that the controversy could backfire. Another activist took Ms. Chow’s place on the ballot, and the prodemocracy camp could win back enough seats to hold veto power over legislation.
Fear that without democracy Hong Kong would be “mainlandized” drove the 2014 protests. That unrest inspired the current crackdown, which is leading to more fear. Beijing and Hong Kong are caught in a downward spiral of confrontation and repression that threatens the city’s stability.
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