international standards on the freedom of assembly. (12) Ahead of the September 2016 Legislative Council election, the Electoral Affairs Commission in Hong Kong issued a new confirmation form for LegCo candidates to sign confirming their commitment to uphold the Basic Law, specifically that the territory is an inalienable part of China. Six pro-independence candidates were disqualified for failing to do so. This new requirement has been characterized as unlawful and political censorship by lawyers, political organizations, and students. (13) Following the September 2016 Legislative Council elections, the Hong Kong government filed a lawsuit to remove from office two newly-elected pro-democracy lawmakers, arguing that the alterations they made to their oaths of office rendered those oaths invalid. (14) On November 7, 2016, the NPCSC intervened in the pending court case, issuing an interpretation of article 104 of Hong Kong’s Basic Law which found that oaths of office would be invalid unless delivered sincerely and solemnly. Following the NPCSC interpretation, the two lawmakers were removed from office by a Hong Kong court. (15) In December 2016, the Hong Kong government filed a lawsuit against four other pro-democracy lawmakers, seeking to disqualify and remove them from office for impermissibly altering their oaths. (16) Five individuals affiliated with the Mighty Current Publishing House and the Causeway Bay Bookstore, both of which are based in Hong Kong and sell literary works critical of Beijing, disappeared under mysterious circumstances between October and December 2015, including Gui Minhai, a naturalized Swedish citizen and co-owner of Mighty Current