Major Hong Kong democratic party disbands amid China's security clampdown

One of Hong Kong's biggest democratic parties said on Saturday it would disband after a vote by its party members, dealing another blow to the city's already beleaguered democratic opposition under pressure from China.

In recent years, Hong Kong's opposition has been hit by a China-imposed national security law and overhaul of the electoral system that has largely sidelined democrats from local politics.

Alan Leong, one of the Civic Party's founding members and the current chair, told reporters that the dissolution of the party was "writing on the wall," as there was no one to take over. None of its members at an extraordinary general meeting filed nominations for executive positions.

Thirty of the 31 members voted to disband, with one person abstaining.

"The world is ever changing. History will tell. Today, the Civic Party is bidding Hong Kong farewell. We hope Hong Kong people will live in the moment with a hopeful and not too heavy heart. Live in truth and believe in tomorrow," Leong, a senior lawyer, wrote in a statement.

The Civic Party, founded in 2006, had been a major democratic force in the financial hub that returned from British to Chinese rule in 1997, alongside the Democratic Party, performing strongly in local legislative and district polls. At its peak, it won six seats in the Hong Kong legislature during the 2012 elections.

2 members detained, denied bail

The party was known for representing professionals in Hong Kong, including lawyers, accountants and scholars, and was considered a more moderate democratic voice that appealed to the city's large ranks of middle-class voters.

China's imposition of a sweeping national security law in Hong Kong in 2020, however, saw a number of its members arrested, including former lawmakers Alvin Yeung and Jeremy Tam.

Yeung and Tam have been detained for more than two years and denied bail under accusations that they participated in an unofficial primary to pick the best candidates for the legislative elections that would allow the pro-democracy camp to win a majority of seats. Authorities said that the primary was aimed at subverting the government.

Another senior member of the Civic Party, Margaret Ng, was convicted of unlawful assembly. Others have fled into exile.

In all, more than 200 people have been arrested for allegedly committing acts that endanger national security.

Overhaul of electoral system

Following on the heels of the national security law, China in 2021 revamped Hong Kong's electoral system, further reducing democratic representation while introducing a mechanism to vet politicians' loyalty to Beijing.

The measures were part of what critics such as the United States say are Beijing's efforts to consolidate its increasingly authoritarian grip over the global financial hub, and to further erode the city's democracy and freedoms that were guaranteed for at least 50 years when it returned to Chinese rule.

"We had our eyes fixed on the benchmark of democracy," Leong said in the Civic Party statement. "While democracy is yet to be accomplished, we hope the concepts of accountability and open government have been adequately introduced to the people."

Hong Kong and Chinese authorities described the electoral revamp as a progressive democratic step to ensure only pro-China "patriots" govern Hong Kong.

Many pro-democracy political organizations in Hong Kong have already disbanded.

They include the protest organizer Civil Human Rights Front and the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, which was behind the annual Tiananmen Square vigil to mark the 1989 massacre in Beijing of pro-democracy activists by Chinese soldiers. The vigil has been banned for the last three years.