Sixtus Leung Seeks Political Asylum In US

Ousted lawmaker Sixtus Leung says he's fled Hong Kong and is seeking political asylum in the United States.

In a statement on Friday, the former Youngspiration member said that after being "illegitimately deprived of his representation and voting rights", he'd been bankrupted, imprisoned and harassed under the National Security Law.

Leung was ousted from Legco following the oath-taking saga in 2016.

He served four weeks in prison earlier this year after being convicted of taking part in an unlawful assembly while trying to push his way into a Legco meeting four years ago. He also faces bankruptcy proceedings after Legco demanded that he return almost one million dollars in salary and other funding that he received prior to his disqualification.

He's just the latest pro-democracy activist to flee the city; former Democratic Party lawmaker Ted Hui said recently that he's now in exile in Britain.

Leung also told Reuters that the United States should target Hong Kong's financial sector with tougher sanctions to deprive China of its 'ATM' and force Beijing to the negotiating table over its crackdown on the SAR.

Leung said he hopes to meet with advisers of President-elect Joe Biden to urge him to ramp up pressure on China.

"There's a stronger way to respond to China's repression: Hong Kong financial system, which is one of the ATMs of China right now - if we can do something on this, it will be much more powerful," he said in Washington.

After being disqualified in 2016 from his post as an elected lawmaker, Leung, 34, was sentenced to four weeks in jail and served his time in September.

Leung suggested action should be taken to block Chinese banks from using Swift, a network used by banks globally to make financial transactions, and also target Hong Kong dollar's peg to the US currency "to try to force China to back to the negotiation table".

In October, the US State Department warned international financial institutions doing business with individuals deemed responsible for China’s crackdown in Hong Kong they could soon face tough sanctions.

Beijing, which promised Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy under its handover agreement with Britain in 1997, denies curbing rights and freedoms in the city, and has condemned US sanctions as interference in China's internal affairs.

Hong Kong democracy activists say conditions have deteriorated since China imposed security laws in June. Leung's comments risk falling foul of the new laws, which make anything Beijing regards as subversion, secession, terrorism or colluding with foreign forces punishable by up to life in prison

Earlier this week, Hong Kong police arrested eight more activists over an anti-government protest in July.

"Every day when we wake up, when we look at the mobile (phone) screen, the issue of first thing that pop up is: who of our friends are being arrested; who among our friends is being sentenced to jail," said Leung.

China and Hong Kong are expected to be among Biden’s thorniest challenges, with relations between Washington and Beijing at the lowest point in decades. (RTHK, Reuters)