This Friday, Didier François returns to the exclusion of 12 candidates from the pro-democratic opposition in the framework of the upcoming legislative elections in Hong Kong. He explains that this decision was expected by the Chinese regime, which does not accept that the Hong Kong population does not support its vision of the future of this territory.
This time, it's really time to come to grips with Hong Kong, where China has started to use its powers under the National Security Law passed by its parliament last month. One of its first applications was the exclusion of candidates of the pro-democracy movement from legislative elections ...
"Yes, the twelve main candidates of the democratic opposition were all invalidated yesterday. They will not be able to stand for the elections to be held in Hong Kong in September to renew the local parliament. Formally, it is indeed about a decision by the Hong Kong executive, but in fact he was acting at the request of the very powerful Liaison Office, the representative body of the Chinese government on the peninsula.
Its representative made no secret of it by welcoming the sidelining of these opponents, whom he described as "delinquents who have gone beyond the framework of legality". Their crime, in the eyes of the Chinese regime, is to refuse the communist dictatorship. And to demand respect for Hong Kong's political autonomy, which is a commitment made by Beijing in 1997, at the time of the handover of this former British colony.
This is the famous principle of "one country, two systems" ...
That's it. Hong Kong agreed to join China, but kept a special status with its consultative assembly, the Legislative Council, knowing that the prerogatives of this local Parliament are extremely limited. Half of its 70 deputies are automatically appointed by professional representatives linked to Beijing.
Even if the democratic opposition won the remaining 35 seats, which are awarded by direct universal suffrage, it could not legally proclaim independence. It is therefore the very idea that we refuse to submit absolutely to its omnipotence that is unbearable for the Chinese regime.
Because more than 20 years after its attachment to China, the population of Hong Kong has still not mostly adhered to the communist mantra. That demonstrators dare to challenge a decision of President Xi Jinping, in an omnipotent one-party regime, is messy and sets a very bad example.
In addition, the movements attached to democracy won the municipal elections last year. And they mobilized more than 600,000 people during the primaries for the designation of their candidates two weeks ago. A huge number in a city of seven million people and given the current situation.
Hence this choice of repression. Beijing does not want to risk offering them another symbolic victory in the legislative elections. "