Beijing has intervened in Hong Kong politics to block two elected lawmakers from taking office.
Sixtus Leung and Yau Wai-ching, who are pro-independence, have refused to pledge allegiance to Beijing when being sworn in.
Beijing has now interpreted a section of Hong Kong law to mean any official who does not swear the oath properly cannot take office, said state media.
The move comes after weeks of chaos in the Hong Kong legislature.

There were also protests, and some scuffles, in Hong Kong on Sunday night, with at least four arrests.
Hong Kong's Chief Executive CY Leung has said his government will "fully implement" the ruling.

Provocative oath-swearing
The interpretation by Beijing's rubber-stamp parliament, the National People's Congress (NPC), marks Beijing's most far-reaching intervention in Hong Kong since it was handed back by the UK in 1997.
China is acting within its rights under Hong Kong law, but many in Hong Kong accuse it of ruling by decree.
The BBC's Helier Cheung in Hong Kong says the move is likely to further anger pro-independence supporters and may prompt further protests.

For Hong Kong's democracy movement, China's intervention is a challenge to freedom of expression and judicial independence, but for Beijing the bigger picture is paramount.
All talk of independence is seen as threatening and elsewhere in China, separatism is a crime and campaigning for independence results in a lengthy jail term.
To allow elected members of Hong Kong's legislature to use such a high profile public platform to insult China and talk of a Hong Kong nation was unthinkable.
Hong Kong's courts do still uphold the freedoms promised when Britain handed the territory back to China nearly two decades ago.
But today's intervention from Beijing is a reminder that China is determined to decide the limits of those freedoms.
The question for Hong Kong's young democracy activists now is where to take their defiance next.
Mr Leung and Ms Yau belong to the Youngspiration party, which sprang from the Occupy Central pro-democracy protests of 2014. They have called for Hong Kong to break away from China entirely.
They were elected in September, and have attempted to take their oaths several times, but each time have provocatively changed the wording. Their attempts included using a variation of a derogatory word for China, and displaying a pro-independence banner.
Their oaths were invalidated amid chaotic scenes in the Legislative Council (LegCo).
The interpretation of Hong Kong's Basic Law states that lawmakers taking their oaths must do so "sincerely and solemnly". They must "accurately, completely and solemnly" read out the portion of the oath that swears allegiance to Beijing, it said.
Failure to do so would disqualify the lawmaker from taking office.
A spokesman for Beijing's state council was quoted by Xinhua as saying this interpretation was "absolutely necessary", and "safeguards" the authority of Hong Kong's constitution and rule of law.
It "complies with the common aspiration of the entire Chinese people, including the compatriots in Hong Kong," said the spokesman.

Bron: BBC, 07/11/16, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-37893039

Eigen mening:
China heeft een complexe relatie met een aantal gebieden die tegelijkertijd wel en niet onder hun controle zijn.
Het is zorgwekkend dat China nu zijn controle over Hong Kong laat blijken op zo'n ondemocratische manier.
Ik verwachtte niet dat de Chinese regering ooit vrijwillig onafhankelijkheid zou geven aan Hong Kong, ze hebben waarschijnlijk nog altijd het plan om in 2040 Hong Kong te integreren.
Toch lijkt me dit een zeer agressieve zet die me bezorgd maakt voor de andere gebieden waar China een claim op heeft.