Hong Kong, April 20 (ANI): Hong Kong's oldest and most prominent pro-democracy party is preparing to shut down amid an intensifying crackdown by China.

The Democratic Party, which has been a key part of the city's opposition movement for over 30 years, has begun the process of disbanding after receiving strong warnings from Chinese authorities, according to two longtime members who spoke with CNN.

Yeung Sum, a former chairman of the party, said the message from Beijing was clear: disband or face consequences.

'The message was that the party has to be disbanded or there will be consequences,' Yeung said.

Former legislator Fred Li added that a Chinese official told him the party should not continue operating beyond the end of the year, ahead of an upcoming election.

Current party leader Lo Kin-hei said at a press conference last Sunday that around 90 per cent of the party's 110 members had agreed to hand authority to a committee tasked with initiating the disbandment. He expressed hope that a conclusive vote would be held in the coming months

'I hope Hong Kong's political parties... will continue to work for the people. We have always hoped to serve the Hong Kong people, and to do things that are good for society,' Lo said.

Founded by liberal lawyers and academics three years before the former British colony's 1997 handover to China, the Democratic Party had campaigned for universal suffrage and on matters from labour rights to conservation during a period when such issues were openly discussed in the city, according to CNN.

Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. According to the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law of the Special Administrative Region, except in matters of defence and foreign affairs, Hong Kong would have a high degree of autonomy. However, in 2022, China continued to dismantle Hong Kong's political freedoms and autonomy in violation of these commitments. (ANI)