Twelve Hong Kong pro-democracy candidates have been disqualified from running in the city’s upcoming general election in what appears to be Beijing’s latest attempt to stamp its authority on the special administrative region. CNN reports the 12 banned candidates include Joshua Wong, the former leader of the 2014 Umbrella Movement, as well as several activists from last year’s mass protests. Wong responded with outrage, writing on Twitter: “Clearly, Beijing shows a total disregard for the will of the Hongkongers, tramples upon the city’s last pillar of vanishing autonomy and attempts to keep HK’s legislature under its firm grip.” Hong Kong’s government said it backed the decision by returning officers to “invalidate 12 nominees for this year’s Legislative Council General Election.” In its statement, the government also warned ominously: “We do not rule out the possibility that more nominations would be invalidated.”
