The powers that be always push back againt the loss of power.
China’s top legislative body ruled that Hong Kong people who advocate independence can’t hold public office, a rare intervention designed to prevent two elected “localists” from taking their posts in a case that threatens to spark further unrest.
Authoritarians will not give up easily but that is not weakening the resolve of those wanting an independent Hong Kong.
Democracy advocates argued that the intervention would harden opposition to the government while lawyers warned that preempting the courts risked damaging international confidence in the city as a bastion of political freedom and the rule of law. Thousands of protesters gathered Sunday outside Hong Kong’s highest court to protest the move before holding an hours-long standoff with police outside China’s Liaison Office that stretched into the early morning hours.
Source: China Flexes Legal Muscle to Quash Hong Kong Independence Calls – Bloomberg
