And then There was One

Cheng says he doesn't understand why he was disqualified

Up until today, Hong Kong's Legislative Council had two opposition lawmakers. Now it only has one.

Civic Passion's Cheng Chung-tai was expected to be part of the Election Committee to choose the next chief executive, but instead he was ousted from his seat in Legco after national security officials deemed him unfit to be on the committee because he is "not patriotic" enough.

Lee said Cheng is not patriotic enough

Chief Secretary John Lee Ka-chiu made the announcement as chairman of the seven member Candidate Eligibility Review Committee, which screens people to be on the Election Committee as well as Legco election candidates.

"The Candidate Eligibility Review Committee will not allow anyone who pretends to uphold the Basic Law or pretends to bear allegiance to the city to enter the system," said Lee, who was previously the SAR's security chief.

"Scammers are skilled in playing different roles. But for these people who pretend to bear allegiance, I will not be tricked by their words as they try to cleanse themselves."

Cheng, from the Civic Passion localist party, was convicted in 2017 of desecrating the national and Hong Kong flags after he turned them upside down during a Legco debate the previous year and fined HK$5,000 (US$645).

After Lee's announcement, Cheng said he could not understand why he was ousted.

In 2016 Cheng put flags upside down in Legco

"If you ask me if I think I should be qualified as a patriot; of course, I would say yes, I should be. But under the prevailing system, I can only say that I will respect the decision by the review committee," he said.

He also doesn't have much choice as he cannot appeal the decision.

Not only can Cheng not help select the next chief executive, he is banned from running for public office for five years.

He said the vetting committee sent him a stack of papers over 2cm high, asking him to explain the various public comments he has made over the years.

"Basically, they asked me to explain my points in my previous speeches, statements made in public, posts on social media accounts and behaviour inside and outside the Legco chamber going back to 2015," he said. "I was also asked if I, as a lawmaker, had fulfilled my constitutional responsibilities in safeguarding the city's interests and rights as it faced different situations."

Legco now only has 42 lawmakers

Why keep Cheng on in Legco if he had been convicted of desecrating the flags? Or was this the plan all along to throw him under the bus later to show Beijing that Hong Kong had done a good vetting job and was keeping the Election Committee totally above board?

However, Lee denied the vetting committee was eliminating dissent, saying it had approved some hopefuls for the Election Committee who were unaffiliated with the pro-establishment camp.

"One can express oppositional views," he said. "The most important thing is that one must not have done anything to harm the country or Hong Kong's interests."

With Cheng disqualified with immediate effect, this leaves 41 pro-establishment lawmakers and one independent, Pierre Chan, who represents the medical sector.