Lord Patten, the last British governor of Hong Kong, has lambasted two lawmakers who were recently disqualified for pledging allegiance to the “Hong Kong nation”, arguing that the burgeoning independence movement in the Chinese territory is “completely counter-productive”.
Lord Patten, who is in Hong Kong to give several public lectures, told the Financial Times on Friday that taking an oath was a “serious matter” and Baggio Leung and Yau Wai-ching, who were disqualified by a Hong Kong court earlier this month, were wrong to turn it into “a sort of student game”.
Support for independence and self-determination has been growing rapidly in Hong Kong amid a backlash against heightened interference in the semi-autonomous territory by Beijing. China’s Communist leaders, who insist they alone can protect the nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, have vowed to “show no mercy” to those who advocate separatism.