#Authoritarianism #StateTerrotism
Beijing Intervenes Hong Kong Local Affairs, taking avantage of the pandemic to flout "One Country Two Systems"

On April 13, Beijing's top offices overseeing Hong Kong affairs, namely the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council and the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong SAR, have hit out at pro-democracy lawmakers, claiming that their behavior could have violated lawmaker’s oaths and breached the council's regulations.

Beijing particularly named pro-democracy legislator Dennis Kwok Wing-hang, who had presided in 14 meetings without any success in electing the House Committee’s chairperson.

In a press conference on April 14, pro-democracy legislators condemmed Beijing for taking advantage of Coronavirus Outbreak to influence the local affairs of Hong Kong. The violation of One Country Two Systems was equivalent to declaring war to the people of Hong Kong.

Wu Chi-wai of Democratic Party criticized Beijing for being "completely inappropriate" and trampling on the "one country, two systems" policy. Beijing's statement also reflected that the Central Government has long been disrespected by the people and will ultimately resort to political repression to sustain its governance.

Pro-democray legislator Claudia Mo explained that filibustering is the last option of every legislator with conscience to veto evil laws that bring injustice, “if the Government does not push through controversial legislations such as the National Anthem Law and Article 23 of the Basic Law, no one in the legislature would ever filibuster.

Pro-democracy Chan Chi-chuen of People’s Power denounced Beijing's action as a “self-directed political storm”, showing that China is stepping up their interference on Hong Kong against the will of the local population: “China is taking advantage of the spread of Wuhan Pneumonia around the world, as other countries are probably too busy to comment on these nasty doings.” Chan called for Hong Kong people to stand firm and resist.

Pro-establishment legislators defended that it was obstruction of legislative Council’s operation that courted intervention from China. They will urge the Council’s Chairman to investigate and they will explore all possible ways to follow-up, including suing Kwok for violating the lawmaker’s oath.

Source: InMedia; Now News
https://bit.ly/2y8U4j8

#Apr14 #Filibuster #FreedomofSpeech #OneCountryTwoSystems

#ChaosInTheLegislativeChamber #Filibuster
Starry Lee Bulldozes Forward with LegCo House Committee Meeting as Pro-dem Lawmakers Were Dragged Out by Security

1500 | #LegCo

At 2:30pm, Starry Lee, the chairperson of the pro-Beijing DAB party, moved forward with a House Committee meeting, citing that the filibuster on the House Committee chair election was taking too long and had interfered with the operations of the House Committee.

Pro-democracy legislators Chu Hoi-Dick, Tanya Chan, Hui Chi-fung, and Raymond Chan protested against the decision by chanting "Starry Lee has no power [to break the filibuster and move forward with a meeting]", as verbal fights descended into fist fights between the pro-democracy legislators and security, joined by pro-Beijing legislator Aron Kwok.

As brawls broke out in the chamber, Starry Lee ordered security to expel pro-democracy legislators, including Alvin Yeung and Jeremy Tam, who were not involved in the fights. The pro-democracy vice chair of the House Committee, Dennis Kwok, also attempted to instruct security to expel pro-Beijing legislators involved in the brawls, but such instructions were ignored by the security personnel who seemed to take orders only from Starry Lee.

Photos: https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/20321

Source: Inmedia
#May8 #StarryLee #HouseCommittee

#ChaosInTheLegislativeChamber #Filibuster

1550 | #LegCo
Pro-democracy legislator Dennis Kwok, vice-chairperson of the House Committee, announces:

1) He has the right to chair the House Committee meetings. Starry Lee's chairing of the meeting as the "former chairperson" and a candidate for the role of "chairperson" is illegal and violates the house rules of the Legislative Council.

2) Denounces pro-Beijing legislator Aron Kwok's physical assault on pro-democracy legislator Ray Chan by dragging him across the chamber.

3) He has instructed security to expel Starry Lee from the chamber, but security did not follow his instructions, and instead only followed Lee's orders.

4) The expelled pro-democracy legislators can now re-enter the chamber.

Source: Now News
#May8 #DennisKwok #HouseCommittee

Lone Pro-Democracy Voice Left in LegCo Mocked by Beijing Loyalists, Later Ejected

1710 | #LegCo
As the only pro-democracy lawmaker left in the chamber, Fernando Cheung protested against Beijing loyalist Starry Lee's behaviour, yelling from his seat "Starry Lee you overstepped your powers!" non-stop for 30 minutes.

Beijing loyalist legislators including Michael Chung-hung Luk and Alice Mei-kuen Mak of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions made fun of him, saying, "Poor man, he has shouted long enough to be given a glass of water." They proceeded to ask if there is any paper cup. "It's better to give him a paper cup, not a glass one."

Another 30 minutes later, Peter Shiu from the pro-Beijing Liberal Party asked Lee to eject Cheung, citing that he had disrupted the meeting for over an hour. Cheung was ejected by security at Lee's order, and there is no pro-democracy legislators left in the chamber.

Source: InMedia #May8
#Filibuster #LegCo #FernandoCheung