Activist, former lawmaker Leung Chung-hang flees Hong Kong, pitches for US asylum
Dec 12, 2020
Hong Kong, December 12 : Former Hong Kong lawmaker Sixtus Baggio Leung Chung-hang has left the territory and is in the United States to press Washington for asylum to young Hongkongers.
"Mr Leung sees the asylum as a new starting point for Hong Kong's democratic cause," Haven Assistance, a group formed by activists in exile, said in a statement on Facebook.
The group, on Friday, revealed that Leung had departed for the US on November 30 after facing "profound political persecution" in Hong Kong, reported South China Morning Post.
Ever since Beijing imposed its national security law on Hong Kong in June, several former lawmakers and activists have fled the territory to speak out for their rights.
Ted Hui, a former lawmaker, left for UK last week. Activist Nathan Law met a British minister recently after fleeing to the country in July.
Leung, along with six lawmakers, was disqualified by a court over oath-taking for newly elected legislators in 2016 when he and another disqualified lawmaker Yau Wai-ching stormed a council meeting in an attempt to retake their oaths. Leung was jailed for four weeks for taking part in an unlawful assembly.
Leung is of the view that the US should take initiate punitive measures against China, forcing it to come to the negotiating table.
