[Pictured: Lo Kin-hei, the chair of the Democratic Party, holds a press conference on Sunday after the vote to disband the party. Photograph: Kobe Li/Nexpher/ZUMA Press Wire]
Hong Kong’s last major opposition party has disbanded after a vote by its members, the culmination of Chinese pressure on the city’s remaining liberal voices in a years-long security crackdown.
The Democratic Party (DP) has been Hong Kong’s main opposition since its founding three years before the financial hub’s return to Chinese rule in 1997. The party used to sweep city-wide legislative elections and push China on democratic reforms and upholding freedoms.
However, mass pro-democracy protests in 2019 against a perceived tightening of China’s grip on the city prompted Beijing to enact a sweeping national security law to stifle dissent.
On Sunday, DP members voted to disband the party and to enter liquidation, its chair, Lo Kin-hei, told reporters after an extraordinary general meeting.
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