Hong Kong activist banned from by-election in what pro-democracy party calls ‘payback’

Hong Kong on Saturday banned a 21-year-old pro-democracy activist from running in a by-election in March, dealing a blow to the youth-led push for universal suffrage and prompting accusations of political interference. Agnes Chow, a member of the pro-democracy Demosisto party which wants self-determination for the city, had planned to run for the Hong Kong Island constituency. “‘Self-determination’ or changing the HKSAR system by referendum which includes the choice of independence is inconsistent with the constitutional and legal status of the HKSAR as stipulated in the Basic Law,” the government said in a statement, referring to the mini-constitution.