Hong Kong district councilors must take oath despite exodus

Hong Kong’s leader says elected district councilors will still need to take an oath pledging allegiance to Hong Kong despite the resignation of dozens of councilors who are refusing to do so

HONG KONG -- Hong Kong's leader said Tuesday that elected district councilors will still need to take an oath pledging allegiance to Hong Kong despite the resignation of dozens of councilors who are refusing to do so. Some 170 district councilors, most of them supporters of the semiautonomous Chinese territory's beleaguered pro-democracy movement have resigned in the past week rather than take the oath following media reports that they may have to repay their wages if they are later disqualified from office. The requirement that the city's more than 400 district councilors take the oath was introduced after a bill was passed in May. Previously, only lawmakers and government officials were required to take the oath and pledge allegiance to Hong Kong and the government. The requirement is seen as part of a broader crackdown on the pro-democracy movement in the former British colony, which has seen an erosion of the freedoms it was promised it could maintain after being handed to Chinese control in 1997.