Hong Kong pro-democracy party to disband under pressure from Beijing

[ad_1] The League of Social Democrats, a pro-democracy get together with a 19-year historical past, has introduced it would maintain a press convention Sunday to announce its disbandment, signaling the disappearance of pro-democracy events from Hong Kong’s political panorama.

“Subsequent yr would have marked the twentieth anniversary of our founding, however we is not going to make it to that day,” LSD mentioned in a media discover on Friday. “We're saying our dissolution.”

A supply informed RFA Cantonese that LSD was warned a number of instances, starting in April, that it should dissolve earlier than July 1 or danger being forcibly disbanded.

Incumbent LSD chairperson Chan Po-ying has beforehand declined to remark. On Friday, she once more mentioned she wouldn't reply earlier than the press convention.

“No Resistance, No Change”

Based in 2006, LSD’s slogan was “No resistance, no change.” The get together made headlines in 2008 when it secured three seats within the Legislative Council with Wong Yuk-man, Leung Kwok-hung, and Albert Chan, turning into the third-largest pro-democracy get together. Recognized for its confrontational model, LSD lawmakers famously threw bananas at then-Chief Govt Donald Tsang throughout a LegCo session, turning into a logo of town’s radical democrats. Exterior the legislature, LSD organized and took part in quite a few protests and civil disobedience campaigns.

In 2009, LSD and the Civic Get together launched the “5 Constituencies Referendum” marketing campaign, during which 5 lawmakers resigned and re-contested their seats to demand common suffrage. All 5, together with LSD’s Leung Kwok-hung, Wong Yuk-man, and Albert Chan, and Civic Get together’s Alan Leong and Tanya Chan, have been re-elected within the Might 2010 by-election.

<img data-chromatic="ignore" alt="From left to right: pro-democracy activists Chung Yiu-wa, Cheung Say-yin, former Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Wing-tat, baptist minister Chu Yiu-ming, 74, law professor Benny Tai, 54, sociology professor Chan Kin-man, 59, lawmakers Tanya Chan and Shiu Ka-chun, and League of Social Democrats vice-chairman Raphael Wong, chant before entering the West Kowloon Magistrates Court in Hong Kong on Nov. 19, 2018." class="c-image" loading="lazy" src="https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/7Q6HNGRLAVD67JX76C7OE5YKDE.JPG?auth=0cd486d0b1dcabb97fe88b5fc08c14059beefd84e7d8cedb470ca8b9d6b59f36&width=800&height=533" srcset="https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/7Q6HNGRLAVD67JX76C7OE5YKDE.JPG?auth=0cd486d0b1dcabb97fe88b5fc08c14059beefd84e7d8cedb470ca8b9d6b59f36&width=274&height=182 274w, https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/7Q6HNGRLAVD67JX76C7OE5YKDE.JPG?auth=0cd486d0b1dcabb97fe88b5fc08c14059beefd84e7d8cedb470ca8b9d6b59f36&width=400&height=266 400w, https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/7Q6HNGRLAVD67JX76C7OE5YKDE.JPG?auth=0cd486d0b1dcabb97fe88b5fc08c14059beefd84e7d8cedb470ca8b9d6b59f36&width=768&height=511 768w, https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/7Q6HNGRLAVD67JX76C7OE5YKDE.JPG?auth=0cd486d0b1dcabb97fe88b5fc08c14059beefd84e7d8cedb470ca8b9d6b59f36&width=1024&height=682 1024w, https://www.rfa.org/resizer/v2/7Q6HNGRLAVD67JX76C7OE5YKDE.JPG?auth=0cd486d0b1dcabb97fe88b5fc08c14059beefd84e7d8cedb470ca8b9d6b59f36&width=1440&height=959 1440w" width="800" height="533"/> hong-kong-league-social-democrats-china Professional-democracy activists Chung Yiu-wa, Cheung Say-yin, former Democratic Get together lawmaker Lee Wing-tat, baptist minister Chu Yiu-ming, 74, regulation professor Benny Tai, 54, sociology professor Chan Kin-man, 59, lawmakers Tanya Chan and Shiu Ka-chun, and League of Social Democrats vice-chairman Raphael Wong, chant earlier than getting into the West Kowloon Magistrates Courtroom in Hong Kong on Nov. 19, 2018. (Anthony Wallace/AFP) Legislative filibusters and inner splits

In 2011, LSD launched a “vote compensation” marketing campaign concentrating on the Democratic Get together for its function in pushing ahead Beijing-approved electoral reforms. Inner disagreements over technique led to a break up, with Wong Yuk-man and Albert Chan forming Individuals Energy. Leung Kwok-hung then took over as LSD chair. The get together retained just one LegCo seat within the 2012 and 2016 elections however continued legislative filibusters and finances protest actions alongside Individuals Energy.

In 2016, Leung Kwok-hung was disqualified from LegCo for holding a yellow umbrella and tearing up a duplicate of the NPC’s “831” resolution throughout his oath-taking. Since then, LSD has had no seats within the legislature however continued grassroots activism and protest actions.

Leung Kwok-hung nonetheless imprisoned

Many LSD members have served jail time for civil disobedience. Leung Kwok-hung, now 69, stays in jail as a defendant within the 47 democrats’ nationwide safety case. LSD vice-chair Jimmy Sham, additionally one of many 47, was launched final month after serving his sentence.

Even after different pro-democracy events such because the Democratic Get together and Civic Get together disbanded, LSD continued avenue actions beneath the Nationwide Safety Legislation period — addressing points like labor importation and minimal wage.

Earlier this yr, the get together deliberate a protest outdoors authorities headquarters on Funds Day however canceled attributable to “immense stress.” Some LSD members additionally had their financial institution accounts frozen or closed, and several other have been charged for “unauthorized fundraising in public” and “unauthorized show of posters.”