Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmakers Photograph:( AFP )
The expulsion of the four from Hong Kong's Legislative Council, the former British colony's mini-parliament, deals a further blow to pro-democracy politicians in the region
Hong Kong on Wednesday stripped four pro-democracy lawmakers of their seats, immediately after China gave the city the power to disqualify politicians deemed a threat to national security.
The ousting comes after 19 pro-democracy lawmakers in the semi-autonomous city's legislature threatened Monday to resign "en masse" if their colleagues were disqualified.
The expulsion of the four from Hong Kong's Legislative Council, the former British colony's mini-parliament, deals a further blow to pro-democracy politicians in the region.
The 19 democratic members of the 70-seat city legislature on Monday threatened to resign en masse if any of them was disqualified, saying that would reflect their unity and show how far Beijing was willing to go to crush opposition.
While the assembly is controlled by the pro-Beijing camp, the opposition's resignation would turn it into a rubber stamp.
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The opposition members have tried to make a stand against what many people in the former British colony see as Beijing's tightening grip over the financial hub, despite a promise of autonomy.
China denies encroaching on Hong Kong's freedoms but authorities in Hong Kong and Beijing have moved swiftly to stifle dissent after anti-government protests flared in June last year and plunged the city into crisis.
The city government said in a statement the four legislators - Alvin Yeung, Dennis Kwok, Kwok Ka-ki and Kenneth Leung - were expelled from the assembly for endangering national security. It did not elaborate.
They were among 12 legislators who were earlier disqualified from standing in a legislative election, now postponed, for various reasons including collusion with foreign forces and opposition to the new national security law.
The disqualifications are likely to add to concern in the West about Hong Kong's autonomy, promised under a "one country, two systems" formula when Britain handed it to China in 1997, as Joe Biden prepares to take over from Donald Trump as U.S. president, promising to promote democracy around the world.
The decision by the Chinese parliament's top decision-making body comes amid frustration in pro-Beijing circles in Hong Kong over what they see as opposition "delay tactics" to obstruct legislation.
Filibustering has long been common in Hong Kong where only half of the 70 seats in the legislature are elected and the other half stacked with pro-Beijing figures.