Lawmakers-elect Yau Wai-ching and “Baggio” Leung Chung-hang of the independence-leaning party Youngspiration have requested to retake their oaths at the legislature.
The oaths taken by the duo at last Wednesday’s swearing-in session were rejected after they referred China to “Chee-na,” which has a similar pronunciation to the archaic Japanese word “Shina” that is now considered offensive to most Chinese people.
Yau and Leung wrote in the written submissions: “I have already sworn in in accordance with Article 104 of the Basic Law and the Oaths and Declarations Ordinance. However, Chen Wei-on, Secretary General of the Legislative Council’s Secretariat, said he was not authorised by law to administer my oath.”
They requested permission to complete the oath-taking on Wednesday in order to fulfil their duties as lawmakers.
Three other lawmakers – architectural functional lawmaker Edward Yiu Chung-yim, independent Lau Siu-lai and Wong Ting-kwong of the pro-Beijing DAB party – have also been asked to retake their pledges.
Yiu and Wong have submitted a written request and will both be sworn in again on Wednesday.
Newly-elected Legislative Council President Andrew Leung has said that the chances for lawmakers to retake oaths are not unlimited. However, Leung did not rule out further opportunities for lawmakers to take oaths after this Wednesday.
