Major Hong Kong democratic party disbands amid China’s security clampdown

One of Hong Kong’s largest democratic parties said on Saturday it would disband after a vote by party members, dealing another blow to the city’s democratic opposition under pressure from China.

In recent years, Hong Kong’s opposition has been hit by China-imposed national security laws and an overhaul of its electoral system that has largely sidelined democrats from local politics.

Alan Leong, one of the founding members of the Civic Party and the current chairman, told reporters that 30 out of 31 members had voted to end the party, with only one abstaining.

“The world is always changing. History will tell. Today, the Civic Party bids farewell to Hong Kong. I hope Hong Kong people will live in the moment with a hopeful and lighthearted heart. Live rightly and believe in tomorrow,” Leong, a senior lawyer, wrote in a statement.

The Civic Party, founded in 2006, has become the main democratic force in the financial center that returned from the British to Chinese government in 1997, together with the Democratic Party, with a strong performance in the legislative and district polls.

The party is known to represent professionals in Hong Kong, including lawyers, accountants and scholars, and is seen as a more moderate democratic voice that appeals to the city’s middle-class voters.

However, the implications of China’s national security law in Hong Kong in 2020 have seen some of its members detained, including former MPs Alvin Yeung and Jeremy Tam.

Yeung and Tam have been detained for more than two years and refused bail in an ongoing national security case, while another senior member, Margaret Ng, was accused of unlawful assembly.

Others have fled into exile.

Following the national security law, China in 2021 overhauled Hong Kong’s electoral system, further reducing democratic representation while introducing mechanisms to check politicians’ loyalty to Beijing.

The measures are part of what critics such as the United States say are Beijing’s efforts to consolidate its increasingly authoritarian grip on the global financial center, further eroding the democracy and freedoms the city has guaranteed for at least 50 years when it returns to China. rule.

“We have focused on the benchmark of democracy,” Leong said in a Civil Party statement. “While democracy is not yet complete, we hope the concept of accountability and open government has been sufficiently introduced to the public.”

Hong Kong and Chinese authorities portray the electoral revamp as a progressive democratic step to ensure only pro-China “patriots” rule Hong Kong.