Pro-democracy members of Hong Kong's legislature will resign "en masse" if Beijing moves to disqualify four of them for violating the city's Basic Law, the bloc said Monday.

The threat came ahead of a meeting of one of China's top law-making bodies, with Hong Kong media reporting that it was considering disqualifying four of the city's legislators for violating their oaths by disrupting the chamber.

"(What) the central government is trying to do with the people's representatives in Hong Kong is totally ridiculous," Wu Chi-wai, head of the Democratic Party, said at a press conference announcing the decision.

Hong Kong's leader is chosen by pro-Beijing committees, but half of its legislature's 70 seats are directly elected, offering the city's 7.5 million residents a rare chance to have their voices heard at the ballot box.

The inability of Hong Kongers to elect their leaders and all of their lawmakers has been at the heart of swelling opposition to Beijing's rule, including the huge and often violent democracy protests that broke out last year.

Hong Kong's democracy camp has come under sustained attack since Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law in response to the protests, including political disqualifications, arrests for social media posts and activists fleeing overseas.

China's leaders have described the law as a "sword" hanging over the head of their critics.

US hits four more officials over Hong Kong freedoms
Washington (AFP) Nov 10, 2020 –

The United States has imposed sanctions on four more officials accused of curbing freedoms in Hong Kong, vowing accountability over China's clampdown in the city.

Edwina Lau, head of the National Security Division of the Hong Kong Police Force, was among the officials who will be barred from traveling to the United States and whose US-based assets, if any, will be frozen.

"These actions underscore US resolve to hold accountable key figures that are actively eviscerating the freedoms of the people of Hong Kong and undermining Hong Kong's autonomy," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement Monday.

Other officials hit by the latest sanctions include Li Jiangzhou, deputy director of a Hong Kong office for "safeguarding national security."

The United States has already imposed similar sanctions on Hong Kong's top leader, Carrie Lam, who is an ally of Beijing.

Lam has tried to downplay the impact but acknowledged that she had trouble with a credit card after the sanctions.

Hong Kong acting chief executive Matthew Cheung slammed the latest US sanctions as "absolutely unacceptable and grossly outrageous."

"This is barbaric interference in Hong Kong's internal affairs and in our motherland's internal affairs," he told a press conference on Tuesday.

The US pressure comes after China forged ahead with a tough security law that bars subversion in the financial hub, which has witnessed major pro-democracy protests.

China's clampdown comes despite its promises that it would ensure a separate system for Hong Kong before Britain handed over its then-colony in 1997.

Beijing has kept chipping away at dissent in Hong Kong, where pro-democracy lawmakers threatened Monday to resign en masse if four of their colleagues are disqualified from seeking office.