China Bars Activists From Taking Seats in Hong Kong Legislature

China bypassed courts by blocking two Hong Kong legislators from taking office – not allowing them to retake oaths after they modified the oath the first time and failed to swear allegiance to the larger power. “The move by mainland China is the latest chapter in an ongoing tussle between Beijing and Hong Kongers who worry that the city’s relative autonomy, protected until 2047 under the handover agreement, is already being eroded,” reports Jason Thomson for the Christian Science Monitor. “Many analysts see this latest effort to contain any pro-independence sentiment as likely to instead fuel those concerns.” The two lawmakers are members of the radical Younginspiration Party and, until China intervened, may not have received support from the cours or among other Hong Kong lawmakers. Hong Kong operates under the principle of “one country, two systems,” since 1997, but the two sides disagree on interpretation of how the two systems should function. Protests greeted China’s announcement. Hong Kong courts will still issue a ruling, and the intervention could influence the 2017 election for the city’s chief executive in more ways than one. – YaleGlobal