Refusing invalid candidate upholds law in Hong Kong

THE NOMINATION OF JOSHUA WONG, a diehard secessionist from Hong Kong, as a candidate for the South Horizons West Constituency in the general election of the Southern District Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on Nov 24, was deemed invalid by the constituency's election regulators on Tuesday in accordance with the Electoral Procedure Regulation of the SAR. China Daily writer Li Yang comments:

Only those sharing similar secessionist stance with Wong, and those nodding to the violence incited by people like Wong, would hype up the decision of the local election regulators.

Wong claimed the reason for his disqualification was a subjective judgment by the returning officer questioning his willingness to uphold the Basic Law, declaring that everyone knows "that the true reason is my identity - loshua Wong".