Dozens of pro-Beijing lawmakers staged a walkout from the Hong Kong legislature on Wednesday to stop the swearing-in of two pro-independence politicians.
Sixtus “Baggio” Leung and Yau Wai-ching of the radical activist Youngspiration party were among five lawmakers expected to redo their swearing-in so they can take office. They were part of a new wave of activist candidates who were elected last month amid a rising tide of anti-China sentiment in semi-autonomous Hong Kong.
Yau and Leung sparked outrage from the pro-Beijing establishment when their first oaths were rejected by legislative officials last week. On that occasion they pledged allegiance to the “Hong Kong nation” and displayed a banner declaring that “Hong Kong is not China”, using language some legislators portrayed as derogatory Japanese slang.
On Wednesday, after two others recited their oaths properly, the pro-Beijing lawmakers staged a walkout, depriving the chamber of the quorum needed to continue. They blasted Leung and Yau for being “disrespectful” and insulting China and demanded they apologise.
The council’s president adjourned the meeting after 15 minutes because there were not enough members to continue. It is unclear when swearing-in will take place.
Senior pro-establishment lawmaker Regina Ip said she generally disapproved of walkouts, but the legislators had no option after the pair refused to apologise for “insulting our motherland”.
“This is a very exceptional case involving a fundamental principle which involves loyalty to your country and adherence to our oath of upholding the ... law,” she said.
Yau said it was the pro-establishment camp that needed to apologise as they were “the ones who really betrayed the Hong Kong people”.
New legislative president Andrew Leung, himself a pro-establishment figure, stood by his defiance of government efforts to ban Yau and Leung. “They are duly elected … and I have a constitutional duty to safeguard their rights to fulfil their duties as legislative council members,” he said.
The government had sought to bar the pair from taking their oaths again but failed in an unprecedented legal attempt on Tuesday to halt the swearing-in. However, high court judge Thomas Au did approve the government’s request for a judicial review of the case, which will take place early next month, in which authorities will formally challenge the decision to allow Leung, 30, and Yau, 25, to retake their oaths.
The pair are part of a new generation of Hong Kong activists determined to force issues of self-determination and independence on to the mainstream political agenda.
Outside the legislature on Wednesday, hundreds of pro-Beijing protesters thronged the grounds, some carrying placards of the pair dressed in Japanese army uniforms that denounced them as “traitors” and “dogs”. Others chanted that the pair must step down to protect China’s “dignity”.
At the legislature’s opening session a week ago, the duo and two other pro-democracy lawmakers modified their oaths, which call for lawmakers to pledge allegiance to the “Hong Kong special administrative region of the People’s Republic of China”.
Leung and Yau had mispronounced China as Shina, an archaic Japanese term for the country that is seen as derogatory. Leung crossed his fingers while taking the oath while Yau pledged allegiance to “the Hong Kong special administrative region of the People’s Refucking of Shina”.
Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
