China says resignation of Hong Kong opposition MPs ‘a farce’
China says the resignation of some Hong Kong opposition legislators is "a farce" and an "open challenge" to Beijing's authority and the Basic Law, the semi-autonomous city's mini-constitution.
China's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office made the remarks on Thursday, after 15 opposition lawmakers announced their resignation in solidarity with four fellow members who had been disqualified a day earlier.
The office said the resignations showed the opposition members' "stance of stubborn resistance" against the Chinese central government.
"If these lawmakers hope to make use of their resignation to provoke radical opposition and beg for foreign interference, they have miscalculated," an unnamed spokesperson said.
On Wednesday, Hong Kong disqualified four opposition lawmakers under a resolution authorizing the city to expel legislators deemed dangerous to national security.
Alvin Yeung Ngok-kiu, Kwok Ka-ki, Kenneth Leung, and Dennis Kwok were disqualified from continuing in their capacity as city legislators, shortly after China’s parliament allowed authorities to unseat those lawmakers who seek secession or invite foreign interference.
The resolution allows authorities to bypass the court system to unseat lawmakers.
Later in the day, the 15 opposition lawmakers announced they would resign in solidarity with the four.
They were absent in the assembly on Thursday.
The city's 70-seat legislature has 21 opposition members.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam explained that legislators who did "not fulfill the requirement and the prerequisite for serving on the Legislative Council" could not be allowed to continue serving on it.
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.
The city was rocked by riots over a bill that would have reformed its extradition law last year. Violent individuals vandalized the city, destroying public and private property and attacking anyone deemed to be pro-government. Hong Kong dropped that bill, but the acts of violence continued.
Earlier this year, the city enacted a new national security law, criminalizing sedition, secession, and subversion against the mainland.
Some opposition lawmakers openly called for Western intervention to stop the law from being enacted in the city and propagated in favor of secession from mainland China.
The United States actively supported the protest leaders and attempted to stir anti-China sentiments in the city.
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