At the weekend, the government barred Chan Ho-tin, 25, from standing in next month’s legislative elections because of his advocacy of independence for the semi-autonomous former British colony. It has since rejected the nomination of several other fresh-faced politicians who publicly supported self-determination.
Mr Chan, a jobless graduate with a business and engineering degree, set up the Hong Kong National party this year with several other young people frustrated by Beijing’s growing encroachment into the territory’s affairs and the local government’s failure to defend residents’ rights.
While he declines to say how many people have joined the party, fewer than 16,000 out of 7m Hong Kong residents have “liked” its Facebook page.