On May 18, pro-democracy and pro-government lawmakers fought with each other in the Hong Kong parliament as a part of a long-running dispute over controversial legislation that would ban insulting China’s national anthem.
The pro-democracy MPs were dragged from the legislative chamber by security guards after a scuffle broke out. The fight took place during a session of Hong Kong’s House Committee, which has been without a leader since October. Pro-democracy MPs have sought to block the election and the appointment of a new chair in order to prevent any laws from being voted upon, including the bill which aims to criminalise the ridiculing of the Chinese national anthem.
Beijing has criticised deputy chairperson and pro-democracy lawmaker Dennis Kwok for deliberately delaying matters and causing a backlog of bills, which, according to them, affect the public interest. On May 15, Kwok was replaced by Chan Kin-por, who was appointed by the legislature’s president to preside over the committee election that was supposed to be held on May 18.
But, on Monday, pro-government lawmakers installed their own stand-in to head the committee–something the pro-democracy MPs claim is illegal. After Chan ejected most of the pro-democracy lawmakers, the election took place, with pro-Beijing lawmaker Starry Lee winning easily.
The bench where the chairperson was seated was surrounded by security guards of the legislature in a bid to prevent the pro-democracy lawmakers from disrupting proceedings. The scuffle started when a group of pro-democracy lawmakers surrounded the podium with a massive black cloth, which they said symbolised the “black box operation”. In addition, several opposition lawmakers, like Claudia Mo Man-ching, raised a placard that read “CCP [Chinese Communist Party] tramples HK legislature”.
Pro-democracy lawmaker Tanya Chan accused the security guards of Hong Kong’s legislature of “losing their impartiality”. However, pro-Beijing lawmaker Martin Liao said that the opposition had “assaulted some of the security officers” and disrupted “legitimate” election proceedings, which necessitated their ejection.
Hong Kong has its own national football team, but not its own anthem. Thus, the Chinese one is played before games. In 2017, China’s parliament extended a law on disrespecting the anthem to Hong Kong, but it is yet to be implemented there. Hence, the bill in question has been a priority for Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam and was introduced last year in response to fans regularly booing the anthem during football matches.
The possible passage of the anthem protest bill will likely rejuvenate the massive and often violent anti-government protests that engulfed the semi-autonomous city in the last half of 2019. The demonstrations were initially sparked by the introduction of a controversial extradition bill but evolved into a demand for greater democracy and against interference from Beijing.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, small protests have resumed in the city as Beijing tightens its grip over Hong Kong. All these issues will be at the forefront when new lawmakers are elected in September in an election.
Image Source: The Times
Pro-Democracy Lawmakers in Hong Kong Dragged out of Legislative Council Over New Law
May 21, 2020
