Hong Kong police detain two ousted pro-independence lawmakers

By Lobsang Tenchoe

DHARAMSALA, April 26: Hong Kong police have detained two ousted pro-independence Hong Kong lawmakers from their homes allegedly for unlawful assembly.

Police detained Yau Wai-ching and Baggio Leung Chung –hang from their respective homes and whisked away to the Central Police Station at around 7am, transferred to the Police Headquarters in Wan Chai and then sent back to the Central Police Station earlier today, reports hongkongfp.com.

The former legislature pair’s arrest was related to their attempt to enter into the Legco in November, last year after they were barred entry to retake their oaths as lawmakers according to Yau’s facebook post.

Yau’s former legislative advisor Terry Yeung along with some volunteers were also detained by the police, their political party confirmed.

Though a police spokesman maintained he had no information on the case, police had moved them to several locations throughout the morning for questioning.

The two pro-independence lawmakers found themselves at the center of the controversy after they held a flag reading “Hong Kong is Not China”, changed the wording of their oath and instead of China, they used the word ‘Chee-na’, a variation of the derogatory term ‘Shina’ used by the Japanese for Chinese people during their swearing-in ceremony last October.

This outraged China as it undermining the principle of ‘One Country-Two Systems’. The standing committee of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) intervened in Hong Kong politics and barred Sixtus Leung and Yau Wai-ching from retaking their oath. The Hong Kong High Court reiterated the same decision taken by the NPC a week later and declared Yau Wai-ching and Baggio Leung Chung –hang disqualified from taking office.

Yau Wai-ching and Baggio Leung Chung –hang belongs to Hong Kong’s Youngspiration political party. The party was founded in 2015 after the 2014 Hong Kong protests, popularly known as the Umbrella revolution.