Taiwan asks China to not interfere in Hong Kong's pro-democracy fight

Taiwan has asked China to not interfere in Hong Kong's judiciary system, urging leaders in Beijing to respect Hong Kong's rights of pro-independence representatives.

The comments by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is likely to annoy China, which has always considered Taiwan and Hong Kong as part of its territory under the "one China" rule.

"The government of Beijing and Hong Kong should listen to the aspirations of the people of Hong Kong eager to practice democracy," Reuters quoted DPP spokesman Yang Chia-liang as saying on Wednesday (9 November).

The DPP and the people of Taiwan are closely monitoring how China has been handling "the problem in Hong Kong", Yang said, adding that his country supports the rights of Hong Kong people to chose whoever they want through democratic means.

On Monday (7 November), China barred two Hong Kong pro-democracy politicians from taking office after they reportedly failed to pledge allegiance to Beijing during their oath-taking ceremony last month.

The Chinese parliament issued an interpretation of Hong Kong's mini-constitution, or Basic Law, following the incident saying the two lawmakers will not be allowed to retake their oaths if the first attempt is considered invalid.

The move is reported to have marked China's most direct intrusion in the city's legal and political system ever since Hong Kong was handed over to the Chinese by Britain in 1997. China agreed to "one country, two systems" principle to ensure some freedom to Hong Kong that included a separate legal system.

Thousands of representatives from the legal profession took to streets in Hong Kong on Tuesday (8 November) dressed in black to protest against China. However, they faced off against a small group of pro-China supporters.

China also control Taiwan but it has, of late started seeing it as a wayward country, which is slowly trying to seek complete independence from the communist rule, especially after the tiny island elected its first female President Tsai Ing-wen earlier this year.

Following her appointment, China stopped official communication with the self-ruled Taiwan because the DPP leader refused to explicitly acknowledge the "one China" principle. Tsai said Taipei would not bow to China's pressure and asked Beijing to accept the reality.