Hong Kong’s Democratic Party holds anniversary dinner after booking struggle

Wei Sze for RFA Cantonese2024.11.12

Read more on this topic in Cantonese.

Hong Kong’s main opposition Democratic Party held its 30th anniversary dinner on the weekend but only after a last-minute scramble to book a venue, reflecting what one senior party loyalist said was the shrinking political space in the city.

The party, one of the last pro-democracy political organizations operating in the former British colony after a sweeping crackdown on dissent by pro-Beijing authorities, celebrated the anniversary of its founding in 1994 on Saturday evening.

The restaurant in the Tsim Sha Tsui district where party members gathered was their third choice.

The first restaurant the party booked canceled the reservation on Nov. 1, saying a deposit had not been paid.

But a former chairwoman of the party, Emily Lau, said the establishment had not asked for a payment to secure the booking, the South China Morning Post reported.

A second venue canceled the booking the night before the banquet saying two of its chefs got into a fight.

Then during the dinner, which party members said was smaller than previous such dinners, several policemen arrived at the restaurant saying they were responding to a complaint but they made no arrests and left.

Lau said it was a pity so many hurdles had been encountered “for various reasons” in trying to organize a simple party dinner.

Lau added the party used to hold annual banquets on a much larger scale and the obstacles it now faced reflected the shrinking political space in the city.

The party has run into similar problems in the past with events being canceled, due to what members have attributed to the fears that many people have of being associated with it.

Political activity has been severely curtailed since Beijing imposed a national security law in the Asian financial hub in 2020 in response to huge pro-democracy protests the previous year.

Hundreds of pro-democracy politicians and activists have been jailed or have gone into exile, and many media outlets and civil society groups have been shut down.

Critics say China has broken a promise made when Britain handed the city back in 1997, that it would retain its autonomy under a “one country, two systems” formula.

Hong Kong’s Beijing-backed government rejects accusations from its domestic critics and Western countries, including the United States and Britain, that it has smothered freedoms in the once-vibrant society.

The city government and Beijing say stability must be ensured and what they see as foreign interference must be stopped to protect the city’s economic success.

The party’s current chairman, Lo Kin-hei, and vice chairman Bonnie Ng attended the dinner but there were several notable no-shows including former party chairman Martin Lee and former legislative councilor James To.

The Democratic Party was formed in 1990 with a platform of supporting China’s sovereignty over Hong Kong while calling for the protection of the rule of law, personal freedom, and human rights.

Following the 2019 protests, candidates representing a coalition of pro-democracy parties won the largest percentage of votes in that year’s city election.

However, subsequent measures taken by Beijing effectively curbed pro-democracy parties’ ability to run in regular elections.

Legislation in 2023 reduced the number of directly elected seats in the city’s legislature and local elections, while also requiring candidates to pass national security background checks and get nominations from committees that support the government.

The Democratic Party did not contest the city’s 2021 Legislative Council elections or district council elections last year and holds no seats in either.

Translated by Shen Ke. Edited by Taejun Kang.