The spokesperson of the European External Action Service denounced, on Thursday 21 October, the application of new provisions for candidacy and taking up public offices in Hong Kong to expel 49 democratically elected District Councillors from their seats.
A first group of more than 210 pro-democracy District Councillors felt compelled to resign from their positions before the process started.
“These developments, based on very broad provisions in the law, negate the results of the November 2019 District Council elections, in which pro-democracy candidates secured more than 80% of the seats. Their exclusion from participation in political life weakens Hong Kong’s democratic governance structure”, said the spokesperson in a statement.
He denounced the increased pressure on civil society, saying that “the disbandment of civil society groups has proved once again that the National Security Law has had a chilling effect on the exercise of protected rights and freedoms in Hong Kong and has served as the centrepiece of a crackdown on the democratic opposition”.
The spokesperson called on China to act in accordance with its international commitments and its legal obligations and to respect Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy and rights and freedoms. The Chinese and Hong Kong authorities must end the targeting of those who defend rights and freedoms and democratic values, the spokesperson warned. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)