Organizers of anti-government protests in Hong Kong announced the creation of a so-called “parliament in exile” after their extremist activities in the autonomy were deemed illegal.
This was told in a commentary to the agency “Reuters” by one of the leaders of the movement Simon Chang, who previously worked at the British consulate.
“The Shadow Parliament can send a very clear message to Beijing and the Hong Kong authorities that democracy should not depend on Beijing”, – he said. – “We want to create informal civic groups that will certainly reflect the views of Hong Kongers.”
The idea is still at an early stage, but the “parliament” will actually be an association of extremists, he said. Their task will be to continue destabilising the situation in Hong Kong from abroad. Chang refused to say exactly where this “parliament in exile” would be located.
Anti-government protests in Hong Kong
In June 2019, mass actions began in Hong Kong, with pogroms and clashes with police. The official reason for the protests was an extradition bill. If passed, Hong Kong could detain and extradite to Beijing those wanted by Chinese security agencies.
The demonstrators were openly supported by Western countries, particularly the US and the UK. The protests themselves continued even after the authorities refused to pass the law. The most absurd reasons were invented to hold the protests. For example, at the end of August last year, radicals smashed underground stations ostensibly because of poor quality of service, and also demolished “smart” lampposts collecting information about road traffic and air pollution levels. The fact is that the protesters saw them as a system of total surveillance by the authorities.
Actions in Hong Kong stopped amid a coronavirus pandemic and resumed in late April. A series of actions took place on 1 May, and ten days later riots with barricades and arson erupted in Hong Kong. Against this backdrop, the Chinese government decided to introduce a national security law in Hong Kong. The document, among other things, criminalizes foreign interference and the undermining of state power in this administrative region of China. The US was dissatisfied with such intentions of Beijing, which became a new reason for protests. This did not prevent the adoption of new legislation.