Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong has been disqualified from running in local elections next month, the first democratic test of public opinion in the city since protests erupted more than four months ago.
Mr Wong, the face of Hong Kong’s 2014 pro-democracy Umbrella Movement, said the decision to ban him was designed to “kill one man, to terrorise a thousand” and accused Beijing of manipulating the election.
Authorities said Mr Wong was barred because Demosisto, his political group, has called for “self-determination”, which they allege contravenes the Basic Law, the territory’s mini-constitution that all candidates are legally required to uphold. The framework is based on the concept of “one country, two systems”, under which Beijing granted Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy and civic freedoms for 50 years following the handover of the city from British to Chinese rule in 1997.