BBC.COM-image copyrightReuters
image captionFifteen pro-democracy lawmakers had announced their mass resignation on Wednesday
China’s government has condemned the mass resignation of most of Hong Kong’s opposition as a “farce” and an “open challenge” to its authority.
On Wednesday, 15 opposition members announced their resignation in solidarity with four fellow lawmakers that had been dismissed.
They were removed after Beijing said legislators deemed a threat to national security should be dismissed.
Many see it as a restriction on Hong Kong’s rights, which Beijing denies.
China’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office on Thursday condemned the mass resignation as “an open challenge” against the Chinese government’s authority and the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s mini constitution.
It also said the move showed their “stance of stubborn resistance” against the central government.
“If these lawmakers hope to make use of their resignation to provoke radical opposition and beg for foreign interference, they have miscalculated,” a spokesperson said.
What led up to this?
On Wednesday, a resolution passed by Beijing said lawmakers should be disqualified if they support Hong Kong independence, refuse to acknowledge China’s sovereignty, ask foreign forces to interfere in the city’s affairs, or in other ways threaten national security.
Immediately afterwards, Hong Kong dismissed four opposition members of the city’s Legislative Council (LegCo) under the rules of the new resolution.
Later on Wednesday, another 15 pro-democracy lawmakers announced they would resign en masse in solidarity.
On Thursday, they were absent from their seats in the LegCo.
The city’s 70-seat legislature has 21 opposition members, usually referred to as non-establishment. Only two of those will now remain in the parliament.