Hong Kong's last major opposition party moves towards disbanding

By James Pomfret and Jessie Pang

HONG KONG, April 13 (Reuters) - Hong Kong's last remaining major opposition party took a key step towards disbanding itself on Sunday after a special meeting approved arrangements to do so in the face of pressure from China, amid a national security crackdown.

Five senior members of the Democratic Party had earlier told Reuters that Chinese officials or middlemen had warned it in recent months to disband or face serious consequences, including possible arrests.

The party, founded three years before Hong Kong's return to Chinese rule from Britain in 1997, has been the Asian financial hub's flagship opposition, uniting democratic forces to push Beijing on democratic reforms, and to uphold freedoms.

Party head Lo Kin-hei told reporters that 90 percent of 110 members had voted at Sunday's meeting for a three-person committee to start making arrangements for disbandment, including resolving legal and accounting matters.

"I hope Hong Kong's political parties ... will continue to work for the people," Lo said at the party's headquarters. "We have always hoped to serve the Hong Kong people, and to do things that are good for society."

After the panel completed its work, a final vote on dissolution would be held in coming months, Lo added. Finalisation of the move requires a majority vote of 75 percent.

Lo did not give an exact date for completion of disbandment, but said it could be as late as next year, adding, "Until the final dissolution, the party will keep on with its usual work."

If the party disbands, it would mark the end of nearly 30 years of opposition party politics in Hong Kong.

At least five Democratic Party members are currently in jail or held in custody under a national security law that was imposed on Hong Kong by China in 2020 in response to mass pro-democracy protests the year before.

Yeung Sum, one of the founders of the Democratic Party and a former chairman, described the party's endorsement of preparations for disbandment as "a pity".

"I believe people in Hong Kong after experiencing democracy, open political system and the rule of law, they won't forget and give it up. The political culture and the fight for democracy will carry on in H.K. in a peaceful ... manner," he said.

China says the security law has brought stability to Hong Kong and rejects claims by some countries such as the United States that it has been used as a tool of repression.