Foreign Politicians Condemn HK Election Bans

Foreign politicians including British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab on Thursday condemned the disqualification of a dozen pro-democracy candidates from Hong Kong's next Legislative Council elections.

Raab said it was clear that the would-be candidates had been banned because of their political views.

In a brief statement, he said the disqualifications undermined the integrity of the One Country, Two Systems principle and the rights and freedoms guaranteed in the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law.

"The Hong Kong authorities must uphold their commitments to the people of Hong Kong," he said.

The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance On China, a coalition of over 60 lawmakers from countries including the United States, Britain, Canada and Germany, said the bans were "unacceptable obstructions of the democratic process in Hong Kong and raised further concerns about the erosion of rights and freedoms."

Meanwhile, Hong Kong's last governor, Chris Patten, described the move as "an outrageous political purge of Hong Kong's democrats", adding that the authorities have shown that it's now illegal in the city to believe in democracy.

In Taiwan, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party said recent political developments in Hong Kong "went entirely against the principle of democracy and the rule of law, as well as basic human rights". (Additional reporting by Reuters)