Opposition to controversial national security law could become new reason for Legco election ban, Beijing adviser says

Think tank vice-chairman Lau Siu-kai says rules on disqualification of candidates are unclear, and hopefuls have to be ‘as cautious as possible’

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Professor Lau Siu-kai at a RTHK radio programme last December. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Published: 12:35pm, 5 Feb 2018Updated: 11:02pm, 5 Feb 2018

The rules on who can be barred from running for Hong Kong’s legislature are unclear, an expert on the city’s constitutional affairs acknowledged on Monday, adding that even opposition to a controversial national security law might get a candidate rejected.

Lau Siu-kai, vice-chairman of The Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, a semi-official think tank, said: “I agree that the existing rules [for disqualifying election hopefuls] are not clear.

“But China has made it clear that it is losing tolerance for political forces or figures who do not respect China’s constitution and Hong Kong’s Basic Law to enter the local political arena and promote their advocacy – especially Hong Kong independence and separatism – in the Legislative Council.”

Lau’s comments, on a radio programme, came one week after the nomination period for the March 11 Legco by-election closed.

Activists Joshua Wong (second from left) and Agnes Chow (third from left) attend the Eastern District Council meeting at Sai Wan Ho to get answers on why Chow was banned from running in the Legco by-election. Photo: Felix Wong

Agnes Chow Ting, a pro-democracy activist from the political party Demosisto, was barred from running. The returning officer ruled – in a decision later endorsed by the Hong Kong government – that her party’s calls for “self-determination” for the city contravened the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution.