China’s top legislative body ruled that Hong Kong people who advocate independence can’t hold public office, a rare intervention that appears to bar two elected localists from retaking their oaths and could spark unrest.
The decision Monday by the National People’s Congress Standing Committee in Beijing represented only its second unilateral interpretation of Hong Kong law since the former British colony was returned to China almost two decades ago.
It came amid a court battle over whether a pair of pro-independence activists who were elected to the city’s legislature in September could take their seats after insulting China in their oaths of office
