APSN | Hong Kong lawmakers lose legal battle over oaths

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Hong Kong lawmakers lose legal battle over oaths

Associated Press - November 15, 2016

'Hong Kong is not China': Rebel legislators take to floor of Hong Kong legislature – Sydney Morning Herald. October 13, 2016
Hong Kong election: Young radicals gain foothold in results likely to rile China – Reuters. September 5, 2016
Return of the angry youth: Hong Kong's protests leave umbrella of unity behind – Sydney Morning Herald. September 2, 2016
Hong Kong protest leaders, including Joshua Wong, escape jail time for rally – Agence France Presse. August 15, 2016
Hong Kong independence demonstration led by banned election candidates – ABC Radio Australia. August 6, 2016

Hong Kong – Two newly elected Hong Kong separatist lawmakers who used anti-China insults when being sworn in were disqualified from taking office in a court decision Tuesday.

A Hong Kong High Court judge ruled that Sixtus Leung and Yau Wai-Ching of the Youngspiration party violated a section of the semiautonomous Chinese city's constitution, the Basic Law, as well as laws covering oaths taken by officials.

The judge sided with Hong Kong's leader, Chief Executive Leung Chun-Ying, and Justice Secretary Rimsky Yuen, who filed a legal challenge aimed at preventing the two lawmakers from taking their seats after they distorted their oaths last month.

Their provocative tactics also included displaying a flag that said "Hong Kong is Not China." Yau inserted a curse word into her pledge while Leung crossed his fingers.

Beijing responded by handing down its own interpretation of the Basic Law, circumventing Hong Kong's courts and raising fears that the city's wide autonomy and independent judiciary under Chinese rule were being undermined.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/11/15/hong-kong-lawmakers-lose-legal-battle-over-oaths-.html.