Hong Kong authorities formally banned on Monday a group promoting independence from China — the first outlawing of a political organization since Britain handed its former colony back to Chinese rule in 1997.
The city's Secretary for Security John Lee announced the ban on the Hong Kong National Party in a brief statement published in the government's gazette, 10 days after the party submitted arguments against the move.
Lee ordered the ban under Hong Kong's Societies Ordinance, a previously little noticed colonial-era law that requires all social groups and organizations to register with the police. The law allows the government to ban groups "in the interests of national security, public order or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others."