Explainer | What is ‘Hong Kong Parliament’ and why are authorities cracking down on it?
Canada-based political organisation, which authorities deem ‘subversive’, has come under spotlight since holding an illegal ‘election’ in July
An overseas political organisation called “Hong Kong Parliament” has come under the spotlight since authorities took action against its members last month, accusing the group of subversion and of violating the Beijing-imposed national security law.
The Post outlines the enforcement actions taken against the group so far and details the organisation’s background.
1. What is ‘Hong Kong Parliament’?
A “Hong Kong Electoral Organising Committee” was established in Toronto, Canada, in 2022 by a group of former lawmakers, scholars and professionals based overseas with the aim of holding elections for a Hong Kong “parliament” sometime thereafter.
Among those who founded the group was Sixtus Baggio Leung Chung-hang, a former lawmaker-elect who was disqualified from taking office after he stormed a Legislative Council meeting room in 2016.
The organisation said its aim was to unite the growing overseas diaspora who had left Hong Kong, while also purportedly providing those who remained in the city a so-called alternative to Legco following its “patriots-only” revamp a year earlier.
While other activists had earlier floated similar suggestions, “Hong Kong Parliament” was the first to get off the ground, with Leung at the time revealing the group had received more than C$1 million (US$726,000) from an anonymous donor.