A pro-democracy district councilor says he is inclined to take an oath of allegiance to Hong Kong and the Basic Law when it becomes necessary to do so, in order to stay on in his public post to serve the community.

Owan Li, an elected representative of Yau Tsim Mong district, is keen to continue with his roles as a communication bridge between residents and the government and as a check on the authorities’ work progress.

Above all, he does not want district councils to turn into another “legislature” where the voices are practically all in favor of the establishment.

“We can make Hong Kong change for the better,” Li said of his duty to supporters who voted for the pro-democracy camp.

The government is proposing to amend the Public Offices (Candidacy and Taking Up Offices) (Miscellaneous) Ordinance in accordance with Article 104 of the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution. Under the article, district councilors are among five groups of public officers who must swear an oath to uphold the Basic Law and pledge allegiance to Hong Kong, the other categories being the chief executive, principal officials, members of the Executive Council and the Legislative Council, and judges and other members of the judiciary.

The amendment bill was gazetted on Feb. 26 and tabled on Wednesday to the Legislative Council for the first and second readings.

Li told Apple Daily that some residents and volunteers in the neighborhood agreed with his stance to go ahead with the oath, as they saw how he had been giving his utmost to serve the community since his poll victory in late 2019, when more than 300 pro-democracy candidates swept the district council election.

The road might be rough and the constraints countless, but Li believed that people in Hong Kong still wanted their elected councilors to stay the course, look for a way out and make use of the only remaining channel in the official system to speak up on their behalf.

He had a slew of community-based public hygiene problems to tackle, he said, such as rat infestation, ageing buildings with dated designs, and blocks that were not managed by owners’ corporations, residents’ groups or property management companies.

Li’s inclination to swear in would not shield him from the risk of disqualification from his district seat, however. Earlier, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang listed “positive” and “negative” conduct that would be considered as observing or violating the oath of loyalty.

Those behaviors included committing acts that endangered national security and seeking to undermine the local political order led by the chief executive, according to Tsang. The ambiguousness of the stated conduct made for grey areas that officeholders could breach by accident.

Li said he was well aware that as soon as the amendment bill went into law, a public post as district councilor would become insubstantial and the officeholder could be disqualified.

Still, he believed in carrying on with their district services to the public and biding their time for a better future together with the people of Hong Kong.

“Finding ways and means to resolve livelihood issues in Hong Kong … Is this not about loyal service to Hong Kong?” Li asked.

He had no guilt or regrets about his stance, but no plan B for his future either. For now, the focus was on his community work, he said.

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