Hong Kong authorities disqualified high-profile pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong from upcoming local council elections, in the latest sign of deepening division in the semi-autonomous Chinese city wracked by months of protests.
City leader Carrie Lam has ruled out political solutions until the violence ends and said Tuesday a recession was possible in the major Asian economic hub.
A returning officer notified Wong that his nomination as a candidate in next month’s elections was ruled invalid, according to a copy of the letter Wong posted on his Twitter account .
The government issued a statement saying the nomination of a candidate, whom it did not identify, was ruled invalid. It indicated the problem was related to the candidate advocating “self-determination” for Hong Kong, which it said conflicts with the requirement for candidates to declare they’ll pledge allegiance to the city and uphold its constitution.
Wong became known as the young face of Hong Kong’s 2014 “Umbrella Movement” protest movement. He has been less prominent in the current protest movement, which has been leaderless and whose participants have sought to remain anonymous.
Wong and other pro-democracy activists were disqualified from running in previous elections. But the others have reportedly been approved for the Nov. 24 district council elections, making him the only one to be banned.
“It proved how Beijing manipulate the election with political cersorship and screening,” he said on Twitter.
Wong’s disqualification came as city leader Carrie Lam ruled out finding a political resolution before ending protest violence.
“For the government to resort to measures that will appease the violent rioters, I don’t think that is the solution,” she told reporters.
Hong Kong has been gripped for more than four months of protests, with peaceful but often unauthorized marches descending into chaos as hardcore demonstrators and police in violent street clashes, with both sides blaming each other for using increasingly aggressive tactics.
Lam also said the city is at risk of falling into a recession as it enters its fifth month of protests, which has hit the city’s tourism and retail industries.
“If this quarter’s growth rate, compared to the second quarter’s growth rate, is negative, it will be the second decline in a row. Then it can be said that we have entered a technical recession,” she said, adding that the economy could end up contracting for the year as a whole.