UK foreign minister Liz Truss on Thursday expressed concern over the disqualification of "democratically-elected" Hong Kong district councillors, whose oaths of allegiance to the government were considered invalid.
"It is deeply concerning that 55 District Councillors have been disqualified and over 250 pressured to resign for political reasons - the first time that such action has been taken against democratically elected District Councillors in the Hong Kong SAR (Special Administrative Region)," UK foreign minister Liz Truss said in a statement.
Truss urged Hong Kong authorities to "uphold freedom of speech and allow the public a genuine choice of political representatives."
"This comes as trade unions, interest groups and NGOs have been forced to disband. The Hong Kong SAR Government must uphold freedom of speech and allow the public a genuine choice of political representatives."
After passing the national security law in June, last year, the government of the Special Administrative Region in Hong Kong had asked all civil servants to take mandatory oaths of allegiance.
They later extended the order to all local-level representatives.
( With inputs from ANI )
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