Philip Fong Afp Via Getty Images
BEIJING — Hong Kong faced a fresh threat to its tenuous freedoms and autonomy on Tuesday, as the Chinese government admonished the city’s judiciary after a court overturned a ban on demonstrators wearing face masks.
The central government’s Hong Kong affairs office said that Monday’s judgment “blatantly challenged the authority” of China’s legislature and of Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, and created “severe negative social and political impact.”
The pointed remarks were perhaps the most stark and public instance of the Beijing government weighing in on a judicial decision in Hong Kong, which is guaranteed independent courts under the Basic Law, its mini-constitution.
Hong Kong police fired tear gas and rubber bullets on Nov. 18 to force pro-democracy protesters trying to escape a besieged university to surrender.
The intervention underlined one of the central grievances of Hong Kong’s protest movement — encroachment by the mainland government on the semiautonomous territory’s affairs — and came after days of violent clashes on university campuses.
Hospital authorities said Tuesday that some 280 injured people were being treated across the city as a result of a days-long standoff between riot police and demonstrators at Polytechnic University. A pro-democracy lawmaker, Ted Hui, entered the battered campus late Tuesday to try to persuade the remaining protesters to leave.
Beijing’s comments reflected the Chinese government’s diminishing patience for the unrest, as evidenced by an increasingly harsh line from officials and state media, some of which have urged police to use live ammunition against protesters.
Lam used emergency powers last month to ban face masks at public gatherings and help police identify demonstrators. But Hong Kong’s High Court nullified the measure this week, saying it violated the Basic Law.
[Hong Kong protesters make last stand as police close in on besieged university]
In comments carried by state media, a spokesman for China’s legislature, the National People’s Congress, rejected the notion that a Hong Kong court had the power to rule on whether a law was constitutional.
“Only the National People’s Congress Standing Committee can make that ruling and decision, any other body does not have the authority,” said Zang Tiewei, spokesman for the NPC’s legal work committee.
Yang Guang, a spokesman for China’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, said Beijing would “closely observe” how the mask ban proceeded through Hong Kong’s courts. Judges are expected to hear further submissions on Wednesday.
Beijing’s stance renewed worries about the erosion of China’s “one country, two systems” formula, under which Hong Kong is entitled to autonomy and relative freedoms — absent in the authoritarian mainland — until 2047, half a century after its handover from British to Chinese rule.
Tyrone Siu
Reuters
A graduate wears a Guy Fawkes mask during a rally in Hong Kong on Nov. 8. Months of anti-government unrest have reached a boiling point this week.
Julian Ku, a constitutional law professor at Hofstra University who is familiar with Chinese law, said Chinese authorities have the right to offer an official interpretation on Hong Kong matters after local courts make a final decision.
But the statements from Beijing officials appeared to be “a signal and a warning to the Hong Kong courts not to uphold the mask ban on appeal, else they force a legal confrontation with Beijing,” Ku said. “This is an unusual way for the National People’s Congress Standing Committee to intervene in Hong Kong affairs.”
Wilson Leung, founder member of Hong Kong’s Progressive Lawyers Group, said the city should be “very worried” that the central government’s position was plainly contrary to Hong Kong’s constitutional rights.
“The separate and independent legal system is one of our most important protections against arbitrary action by the authorities,” Leung said.
[Buffeted by trade war and Hong Kong protests, China’s Xi Jinping seeks to project stability]
Chinese leaders in recent days said it was the common responsibility of Hong Kong’s judiciary, executive and legislature to stop the unrest. That earned a rebuke from the Bar Association, which said Hong Kong’s courts must be free of interference.
Stuart Hargreaves, associate professor of law at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said Beijing’s statement could be read in at least two ways: If China intended to deny Hong Kong courts the right to interpret the Basic Law in their decisions, that would be a “radical reduction” in judicial independence. But if the NPC was merely reiterating that its Standing Committee had the final right of interpretation of the Basic Law, that was already clear and accepted by the courts.
“What makes Hong Kong attractive as a base for international finance is not only its access to the Chinese market, but its robust and independent judicial system. If that independence is eroded over time, then eventually international investors will have to reevaluate whether Hong Kong remains a viable place to do business,” Hargreaves said.
Tyrone Siu
Reuters
Anti-government protesters wear gas masks and carry umbrellas during clashes with police outside Hong Kong Polytechnic University this week.
Months of intensifying anti-government dissent reached a head this week as riot police cornered hundreds of demonstrators inside Hong Kong’s Polytechnic University.
Lam, Hong Kong’s leader, told reporters Tuesday that about 600 demonstrators had left the campus — many to face arrest — while about 100 remained inside. She urged them to “put down the weapons and come out peacefully.”
Police maintained a blockade of the campus and were seen arresting some demonstrators who left the standoff on Tuesday afternoon.
[Halloween in Hong Kong brings a surreal mash-up of partygoers, protesters and riot police]
Hong Kong’s new police chief, Chris Tang, said that the purpose of the police operation was “only to maintain the law and public order.” Police told reporters later that they had arrested 1,100 people over the previous 24 hours across the city, for offenses such as participating in a riot and possessing weapons. Six police officers were injured.
Along with full democracy and other demands, protesters want an independent investigation into police brutality. Lam has resisted, pending a report by an existing police watchdog with limited powers.
Chinese propaganda organs continued Tuesday to urge Hong Kong authorities to forcefully quell the unrest. “Tolerance cannot reform the rioters. Restraint cannot stop the crimes,” the Communist Party’s official People’s Daily newspaper said in a front-page editorial.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday that the United States was “gravely concerned by deepening political unrest and violence” in Hong Kong.
Liang and Crawshaw reported from Hong Kong. Ryan Ho Kilpatrick and Anna Kam contributed to this report.
Read more
Hong Kong protesters make last stand as police close in on besieged university
China’s ominous warning to Hong Kong: Less tolerance, more patriotic education
‘We are in a war’: In Hong Kong, an accountant by day becomes street fighter by night
Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world
Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news
https://news.google.com/__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?oc=5
2019-11-19 10:32:00Z
52780440301298
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "China slams Hong Kong judges after mask ruling, raising pressure on city’s freedoms - The Washington Post"
Post a Comment