Poll Hopefuls Pledge An End To US Sanction Calls

Several pro-democracy politicians hoping to stand in September's Legco polls wrote to election officials on Sunday, meeting a 24-hour deadline they were given to answer questions about their stances on issues including the national security law and Hong Kong independence.

The Civic Party's Alvin Yeung, Dennis Kwok, Kwok Ka-ki and Cheng Tat-hung were among those asked whether they plan to continue to ask the US or other countries for sanctions on Hong Kong, to which all four replied no.

Yeung, Dennis Kwok and Kwok Ka-ki rejected allegations by the returning officers that their previous remarks on sanctions invited foreign interference in Hong Kong, saying given the international community's stake in the SAR, various countries have only been safeguarding their own interests and core values like freedom and democracy.

They also noted that any comments they had made regarding sanctions came before the enactment of the new national security law, which prohibits collusion with foreign forces, and they will uphold all the provisions of the Basic Law.

“The contents of any particular legislation made by a foreign country are entirely within the prerogative of its own legislature. Also, its implementation and enforcement (including sanctions and other measures) are also entirely within the control and discretion of the relevant foreign government itself,” the lawmakers stated in their letters.

Quizzed on their pledges to try to veto the government's budget in future, all four noted that the functions and powers of lawmakers are laid down in the Basic Law itself and said they're only advocating the proper exercise of these powers.

“I was simply advocating for the proper exercise of these constitutional powers as set out in the Basic Law, if and when it is considered right to do so. This is a political question which I am not sure why it is relevant to your duty and decision as a returning officer,” they wrote in their separate letters.

Another of those sent a list of questions by a returning officer was former Demosisto member Tiffany Yuen, who hopes to stand in the Hong Kong Island constituency.

She said she has written back to say she has taken down a picture she posted on Instagram earlier this year containing the protest slogan "Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times". The government recently declared this slogan to be illegal.

The Southern district councillor also said she agrees that Hong Kong has a constitutional duty to safeguard national security, but she is opposed to the form of the legislation imposed on the city by Beijing.

Localist Ventus Lau, who hopes to run in New Territories East, told his returning officer that protests he had organised in the past were approved by the police, and the demonstrations did not show he was encouraging foreign countries to interfere in Hong Kong.

Lau denied that he still advocates Hong Kong independence and said when he previously spoke of building the "ideal country" he meant he wanted Hong Kong and the mainland to be better places.

He said the idea of an "ideal state" was first put forward by the Ancient Greek philosopher Plato, and was cited by President Xi Jinping in an article he wrote to coincide with a visit to Greece last year.