Hong Kong's opposition party folds, citing ‘immense political pressure' and ‘safety fears'
'We sadly announce that facing immense political pressure, and having considered all factors, especially the safety of our members and those who walk with us, we can only sadly announce our dissolution,' the party chairwoman Chan Po-ying said on Sunday.
When asked to specify the 'political pressure' it faced, Chan said she could say nothing beyond the 'disbandment statement' the party prepared.
The press conference at a Chai Wan industrial building was attended by Chan and six members, such as Figo Chan Ho-wun, Jimmy Sham Tsz-kit, Raphael Wong Ho-ming and Tsang Kin-shing.
There was a heavy police presence outside the venue, with dozens of media outlets packing the small room.
Reading the statement titled 'rather be ashes than dust' in a press conference, Chan said the party, established for 19 years, recently experienced a 'crisis where almost all of its leadership faced imprisonment due to civil disobedience'.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
5 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Xinjiang history documentary aims to counter Western narratives, bolster Chinese identity
China aired a documentary last week showing how the Qing dynasty took back Xinjiang from foreign forces in the late 19th century – Beijing's latest effort to counter Western narratives and strengthen Chinese national identity in ethnic minority border areas. The six-episode documentary, titled Zuo Zongtang Recovers Xinjiang, was produced and aired by the broadcaster of Hunan province, the birthplace of Zuo Zongtang, one of the most famous generals and reformists in the late Qing dynasty (1644-1911). The documentary comes as Beijing has worked to cement its narrative on the history and governance of China's borderlands, with the aim of 'forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation' – a phrase first coined by President Xi Jinping in 2014. Xinjiang has been a part of Chinese territory since ancient times, when it was known as the 'Western Regions'. As early as 60BC, during the Western Han dynasty , the government established the Protectorate of the Western Regions, formally incorporating Xinjiang into Chinese territory. The Qing dynasty faced multiple internal and external challenges in the 19th century, which severely undermined its reign. Its rule was weakened by the Taiping Rebellion (1851-1864), unequal treaties with Western naval powers such as Britain, and growing foreign infiltration in its western regions, including Xinjiang, where the Qing established rule in the 1750s. The documentary is not the first time China has highlighted Zuo Zongtang as a national hero. In 2023, his historical deeds were included in junior high school and university history textbooks. Photo: Handout The documentary depicts how Yaqub Beg, a general of the Kokand Khanate in Central Asia, invaded and occupied Xinjiang in 1864 and created a separatist state there, which was backed briefly by Britain and Russia. Beg was a jihadist who wanted to establish an Islamic caliphate. He has been revered by modern Islamic fundamentalists, including al-Qaeda, which has praised him as a hero.
South China Morning Post
5 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Malaysia's AI dreams: a victim of the US-China tech war?
When Malaysia unveiled its National Artificial Intelligence Roadmap in 2022, it promised a future of innovation and prosperity. But as geopolitical tensions mount, the country's aspirations risk being stifled by forces it struggles to control: tariffs, export bans and a global scramble for the chips that power tomorrow's technology. That road map for 2021 to 2025 placed particular emphasis on AI applications in supply chains; agriculture and forestry; medical and healthcare; smart cities and transport; and education and the public sector. Last year, the establishment of a National AI Office marked the government's renewed commitment to building out Malaysia's AI ecosystem, extending its focus to include micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. Yet Malaysia's AI journey is only just beginning. As the minister of science, technology and innovation has noted, only 13 per cent of smaller companies have adopted AI – despite them comprising 97 per cent of Malaysia's businesses. The AI start-up scene is similarly nascent, with only a handful of fledgling firms harnessing machine learning, computer vision and robotics to create and commercialise new AI-powered solutions. An AI chip made by American multinational corporation AMD is seen on display at a convention centre in California. Photo: Reuters Crucially, both the road map and the National AI Office operate on the implicit assumption that Malaysia will continue to import AI chips, since the country's semiconductor industry is anchored in the assembly, packaging and testing stages, with no domestic manufacturing of AI chips. These chips are sourced from mainland China, Taiwan and the United States; Malaysia does not produce them locally. As such, US export restrictions, particularly on state-of-the-art Nvidia chips, threaten to stymie Malaysia's AI ambitions. Efforts to curb semiconductor diversion to China already appear to be under way. On July 5, Bloomberg reported that the US Commerce Department intended to require export licences for Nvidia's advanced AI chips bound for Malaysia and Thailand, aiming to block China from acquiring them through third countries or smuggling. To date, no formal rule has been issued, but the proposed ban follows allegations that a Chinese company attempted to train AI models in Malaysian data centres using Nvidia chips. While Malaysian authorities are investigating, Nvidia has been allowed to resume exports from the US to China since last month as part of a trade deal involving access to rare earth minerals. How long this arrangement will last is uncertain, as is its impact on US concerns about chip transshipment through Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia. US President Donald Trump displays a signed executive order at an AI summit in Washington on July 23. /AFP
South China Morning Post
7 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
How Hong Kong won its legacy of protection for Victoria Harbour
The Society for Protection of the Harbour has ceased operations after 30 years of advocacy to protect Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour. The founder and main driving force of the group, Winston Chu Ka-sun, indicated his disappointment at the recent amendments to the Protection of the Harbour Ordinance and said 'he was not sure about the future of the harbour'. I had the privilege of working with the group as its professional planning adviser through all the Town Planning Board and court processes that took place. What it has achieved needs to be fully appreciated. In the early 1990s, Chu, then a member of the Town Planning Board, became concerned with the scale of the reclamation proposed by the government. It would effectively reclaim all the harbour except for a 1km-wide channel , and what was a harbour could become 'Victoria River'. Imagine the extent of water that would have been removed – for example, all of Kowloon Bay, 1km from North Point up to Kai Tak, would be all land and buildings. Chu's mother directed him to do something about that, and he certainly did as he was told. The society was founded in 1995. The next year, its vice-chair, legislator Christine Loh Kung-wai, introduced the private members' bill that was to become the Protection of the Harbour Ordinance. The law was short but powerful, requiring all public officers to protect the harbour from reclamation. The ordinance, which came into force on June 30, 1997, was one of the final legislative acts of the outgoing British administration. The government at the time was planning for a major makeover of Central and Wan Chai that involved reclaiming much of the harbour between the Star Ferry pier and North Point, including filling in the Causeway Bay typhoon shelter. When the Town Planning Board accepted these plans, against the submissions of the society, the group challenged its decisions through judicial reviews, the most significant of which was the one filed in February 2003 that reached the top court. I did not realise at the time how significant these challenges were. To my knowledge, it was the first time civil society had mounted a legal challenge against the government since the handover. The question on our minds was: how would the legal process stand up under the new 'one country, two systems' context?
