HONG KONG, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- Hong Kong politician James Tien was dismissed from China's top political advisory board for his criticism of the handling of Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests.
Tien was removed from the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a prestigious but powerless part of the government comprised of over 2,000 delegates, after he told a radio interviewer Friday Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying should resign. Tien referred to Leung's inability to stop Hong Kong's street protests.
"The fact that I called, or rather urged, Chief Executive C. Y. Leung to resign because Hong Kong was getting a bit ungovernable" broke the rules, Tien later said. His remarks went against a vote of the Conference in March, calling for it to "absolutely support" Leung.
Tien, 67, is a well-known Hong Kong real estate executive, and will return to his position as leader of Hong Kong's pro-business Liberal Party. He is believed to be the first Chinese political leader to lose his position over his views regarding the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong.
