Hong Kong braces for pro-Beijing agenda in the wake of opposition resignations

Pro-Beijing supporters gather outside of Hong Kong's Legislative Council

Credit: Anthony Kwan /Getty Images AsiaPac 

Controversial new laws are expected to be rubber stamped by Hong Kong’s legislature after its only opposition lawmakers dramatically resigned in protest last week. 

The group of fifteen pro-democracy figures quit last Wednesday shortly after four of their colleagues were disqualified by Hong Kong authorities for being an apparent "threat to national security" in a move that has been widely criticised. 

The UK called it a “clear breach” of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, an agreement guaranteeing Hong Kong certain freedoms made when Britain handed its former colony over to China.

Though the lawmakers represent just a third of Hong Kong’s semi-democratic legislature, for years they have been the only opposition to some of the government’s more controversial proposals.

One of the proposals expected to be passed calls for the creation of more than 1,000 hectares of artificial islands for housing developments, an $80bn (£60bn) reclamation project that would be the most expensive in the city’s history and comes with significant environmental concerns.

Another would see Hong Kongers able to cast absentee votes from mainland China but not elsewhere, which has raised fears of election interference.

“I’m afraid it is now a legislature completely without the opposition’s voice or the voice of common sense these days,” said Claudia Mo, one of the pro-democracy legislators who resigned last week.

In recent years the main work of the opposition has been to filibuster and sharply question government proposals, according to another lawmaker who resigned, Ted Hui. 

“They can pass any political reform proposal in Legco [the legislature],” he said. “They can change the constitution and Basic law because there is absolutely no opposition.”

“They can also change the rules of procedure of Legco so that if we come back somehow in the future, then it’s harder for us to filibuster and it’s easier for us to be impeached.”

The pro-democracy lawmakers’ absence is also likely a death knell for more liberal legislative initiatives they were pushing.

“Forget about all those private members bills calling for same-sex marriage or that Hong Kong should do more to stop human trafficking and animal rights protections, that sort of thing,” said Mo. “They are all forgettable according to this government.”

Same-sex marriage is still controversial in Hong Kong despite widespread support from major financial institutions, law firms and civil society groups.

Another resigned lawmaker, Fernando Cheung, said given the “ultra-conservative stance of the pro-establishment legislators on LGBTQ rights,” he feared that not only would their rights be ignored, but that the government may now engage in more discrimination.

Also unlikely to go anywhere now are efforts dating back to 2017 to enact anti-slavery legislation modelled after Britain’s Modern Slavery Act. It was being spearheaded by Dennis Kwok and Kenneth Leung, two of the four disqualified lawmakers.

Despite the impact on Hong Kong’s legislature, the opposition and its supporters say they had few options left after national security legislation was imposed this summer by Beijing in an effort to stop the city’s pro-democracy movement in its tracks.

More than 10,000 people were arrested between June 2019 and October 31, according to police figures.

Without legislators to represent their interests, op-eds in local press on Monday called on pro-democracy activists to instead work “outside the system”, while another spoke about lobbying the US for targeted Magnitsky sanctions, which can see sanctions and asset freezes imposed on human rights offenders.

“At the moment I’m afraid the future is going to look fairly bleak at least in the short term,” said Mo. “Because of the coronavirus social restrictions, there are no protests at the street level.”

“Things might look a bit dead at the moment but don’t underestimate all the pent-up anxiety, frustration and anger and determination as well. It’s still there.”