Hong Kong lawmaker slams UK group for ‘political bias’

Commonwealth Parliamentary Association revokes seminar invite for HK lawmakers over ‘deteriorating situation’

The president of Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing legislative council has accused a UK-based parliamentary association of “blatant political bias” after the group revoked the invites issued to the city’s lawmakers for a global seminar.

Andrew Leung, who leads Hong Kong’s Legislative Council stated that the move from the UK Executive Committee of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA UK) was an attempt to “derogate and sideline Hong Kong,” reported Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP) on Jan. 30.

“Each jurisdiction has the right to pursue a political system that can best suit its actual situation, and this right should be respected by other parliamentary bodies,” Leung said.

Leung’s remarks came after the parliamentary association issued a press statement on Jan. 26 withdrawing the invites issued to Hong Kong lawmakers in a unanimous decision citing “the deteriorating situation” in the territory.

The association stated that the Hong Kong lawmakers had attended its seminar in previous years.

“Despite a serious erosion of political plurality and participation in Hong Kong, delegates from the Legislative Council have attended some CPA UK events in recent years to involve them in dialogue which promotes democracy,” the statement read.

“This [decision] has made me not really want to set foot in [the UK]”

Last year, lawmakers Tang Fei, Nixie Lam, and Lilian Mok were among the representatives that attended the seminar virtually.

The 70^th Westminster Seminar on Effective Parliaments is scheduled to convene from March 14-18, 2023, in London for lawmakers “to engage and network with counterparts, and explore approaches to parliamentary democracy, practice, and procedure.”

The annual seminar draws lawmakers from 180 legislatures from Commonwealth territories around the world.

New People’s Party lawmaker Dominic Lee whose 2023 seminar invite was rescinded said he “strongly condemned” the CPA UK’s decision. He added that the CPA UK’s claim about Hong Kong’s “deteriorating situation” was “slanderous” and a form of “political manipulation.”

“We think … the [CPA] UK is attempting to tarnish the city’s positive governance following the electoral reforms,” he said.

“This [decision] has made me not really want to set foot in [the UK] in the short term unless it is for official work duties,” Lee further added.

The CPA UK invite withdrawal came just when the current-term lawmakers had marked a year since the Beijing-imposed electoral reforms.

The changes in the reforms stipulate that only those who are deemed as “patriots” by a candidate eligibility review committee could run for public office in Hong Kong.

Of the current 90 new lawmakers in the Legislative Council, only one identifies as not being from the pro-establishment camp.

In 2020, 15 lawmakers resigned after four pro-democracy lawmakers were disqualified from the legislature after failing to meet a “loyalty requirement” imposed by Beijing’s top legislative body, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.

It had passed a resolution that said Hong Kong lawmakers “who promote or support Hong Kong independence and refused to admit China’s exercise of sovereignty over the city should be considered in breach of their oath of allegiance to the special administrative region (SAR).”

“Freedoms are being systematically eroded by Beijing on multiple fronts”

Earlier this month, the UK government released its biannual report on Hong Kong which stated that the city’s autonomy was “declining.”

The UK government criticized Chinese and Hong Kong authorities for “undermining the rights and freedoms promised to Hong Kongers under the Sino-British Joint Declaration,”

“Freedoms are being systematically eroded by Beijing on multiple fronts, tightening the restrictions on the lives of ordinary Hong Kongers,” the report read.

The UK government said it would “work constructively” with Chief Executive John Lee where possible, but “will judge the Hong Kong government based on its actions.”

In response to the report, Hong Kong heavily criticized the UK government for biannually interfering with Hong Kong’s affairs, and accused it of “destroying Hong Kong’s rule of law.”

In December 2022, Hong Kong’s pro-democracy Civic Party initiated proceedings to shut down its operations after 16 years due to an acute leadership crisis reportedly fueled by suppression from the pro-Beijing regime.

Reportedly, its members were unwilling to step up to leadership roles amidst fear of reprisal from Beijing and its National Security police.

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