Beijing’s top lawmaking body, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPCSC), adopted a resolution Wednesday allowing the Hong Kong government to bypass the courts and ban any lawmakers regarded as “unpatriotic” or deemed to be acting in a manner that “endangers national security.” Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam, subsequently announced the disqualification of four assembly members.
The four lawmakers were previously barred from running for reelection after authorities found that “their pledge of allegiance to Hong Kong was not sincere.” The four ousted lawmakers were also “accused of working with foreign powers to interfere in the affairs of Hong Kong after lobbying the United States to sanction certain officials for human rights abuses.”
In response to their colleague’s expulsion, Hong Kong’s pro-democracy lawmakers said they would resign in protest. The opposition members of the assembly have tried to stand against what many people “see as Beijing’s whittling away of freedoms and institutional checks and balances.”
After the dismissal of the pan-democrats, Hong Kong’s 70-seat legislature now almost entirely consists of Beijing-friendly lawmakers. Pro-democracy legislator Fernando Cheung said that when the government banned the four members, the democratic camp “lost the one-third of the votes needed to avoid impeachment initiatives.” The shift raises concerns about a lack of a meaningful opposition voice in the chamber and “how the democracy movement will move forward.”