Opposition primary in Hong Kong may violate security law: China
China has described an official vote held by Hong Kong’s opposition parties as a “serious provocation,” warning that the campaign could be found illegal under the new national security law in the semi-autonomous city.
“This is a serious provocation against the current election system,” China’s Liaison Office in Hong Kong said in a statement late on Monday.
The comments came after an unofficial “primary election” was held to choose opposition candidates to run for seats in Hong Kong’s upcoming legislative poll on Sunday.
The opposition parties hope to gain a majority in the city’s parliamentary elections, which is due in September. Dominating the chamber would give them more power to stall budgets and legislation.
However, China’s Liaison Office said in its statement that such campaigning was suspected of breaching article 22 the new security law.
Article 22 targets “subverting state power.” It outlaws “serious interference and obstruction” of the Chinese central government and the Hong Kong government, or any act that causes them to be “unable to perform their functions normally.”
China approved the new security law for Hong Kong in late May. The law was enacted at the end of last month.
The law punishes crimes of secession, subversion, and collusion with foreign forces with sentences of up to life in prison in Hong Kong. Mainland security agencies are also officially based in Hong Kong for the first time under the law.
Among other details is a ban on violators of the law standing for elections and greater oversight of non-governmental organizations and news groups.
Critics of the law view it as a blow to the region’s autonomy and civil liberties. Protests erupted in Hong Kong after the law was proposed on May 22.
China says the law is necessary to tackle subversion, following violent anti-government protests that escalated in June last year.
Hong Kong has been governed under the “one-country, two-system” model since the city — a former British colony — was returned to China in 1997.
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