Two Hong Kong independence advocates elected to the local legislature will not be allowed to retain their seats after a three-judge panel upheld an earlier ruling.

The rejection of an appeal made by Yau Wai-ching, 25, and Sixtus “Baggio” Leung, 30, who were elected to the Legislative Council in September, is the latest chapter in a weeks-long political firestorm, and comes after a heavy-handed intervention by Beijing, which is implacably opposed to separatism.

The High Court judges found unanimously that the two had, in effect, declined to take their oaths of office when they turned their inaugurations into a political demonstration. At the ceremony on Oct. 12, both Yau and Leung unfurled banners that stated that Hong Kong was not part of China, and departed from the prescribed oath by pledging allegiance to the “Hong Kong Nation” instead of Hong Kong as a Special Administrative Region of China.

“There is therefore no question of allowing them to retake the [Legislative Council] Oath,” wrote Justice Andrew Cheung in the ruling, adding that the vacation of their offices was “automatic.”

Neither Yau nor Leung showed up to hear the ruling, which comes after the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPCSC), China’s rubber-stamp legislature, found against them in early November — at the same time as their actions were the subject of a judicial review brought by the Hong Kong government.

“As critics we can argue that it was improper for the NPCSC to intervene in a pending case but we could not expect the Court of Appeals to challenge that decision,” Michael Davis, a former law professor at the University of Hong Kong, tells TIME by email. The NPCSC, he says, “essentially foreclosed any chance the court would side with the two legislators.”

Both Yau and Leung were among the fresh faces elected as part of a local backlash against Chinese encroachment on the semiautonomous territory’s freedoms, and have been under constant attack from loyalist forces for the manner in which they attempted to take their oaths. Business in the chamber has ground to a halt for weeks as a result.

The burgeoning Hong Kong independence movement has meanwhile attracted the fury of the Chinese state. Speaking on Nov. 11 in Beijing, President Xi Jinping said, “All activities that intend to divide the country will certainly be firmly opposed by all Chinese people. We will never allow any one, any organization, any party to split off any tract of territory from China anytime, or in any way.”

On Tuesday, China’s top lawmaker, National People’s Congress chairman Zhang Dejiang, declared that “Hong Kong independence would bring calamity to the nation and its people.”

The High Court said Wednesday that it would hear applications for Yau and Leung’s appeal to the territory’s ultimate court, the Court of Final Appeal, on Thursday morning.

Contact us at editors@time.com.</s>HONG KONG (AP) — Two separatist Hong Kong lawmakers lost their appeal Wednesday against a ruling disqualifying them from office because they altered their oaths with an anti-China insult.

The Court of Appeal sided with a judgment earlier this month barring Sixtus Leung and Yau Wai-ching of the Youngspiration Party from taking their seats in the city’s Legislative Council.

It agreed with the High Court’s decision two weeks ago that the pair effectively declined to take the oath, violating the semiautonomous Chinese city’s Basic Law constitution covering oaths taken by officials.

The three-member panel said its ruling was backed up by Beijing’s own controversial interpretation of the Basic Law.

In an act of defiance, Leung and Yau modified their oaths, which require pledging allegiance to Hong Kong as a part of China, by referring to the “Hong Kong nation” and using a derogatory term for China during their swearing-in ceremonies last month. They also displayed a flag that said “Hong Kong is not China.” Yau, 25, cursed and Leung, 30, crossed his fingers.

“There can be no innocent explanation for what they uttered and did,” the ruling said. “What has been done was done deliberately and intentionally.”

The actions infuriated China’s central government in Beijing, which responded with its constitutional interpretation that Hong Kong courts are required to enforce. But in an unprecedented move, the decree was released before the lower court came to a decision, sparking fears that Beijing was eroding Hong Kong’s considerable autonomy and independent judiciary.

Leung and Yau were among a group of lawmakers newly elected in September amid a rising tide of anti-China sentiment driven by fears that Beijing is tightening its grip on the former British colony.

The ruling comes after the Hong Kong government indicated it plans to widen its campaign against the opposition by taking action against a third pro-democracy lawmaker, Lau Siu-lai, who read her pledge in an exaggeratedly slow manner in an apparent protest, pausing for a few seconds between each word.

The Justice Department said in a brief statement Tuesday that the government plans to take Lau to court but did not provide details.
Two Hong Kong Youngspiration party Legislative Council election victors lose their appeal to take their seats in parliament by a High Court three-judge panel. Tomorrow, the High Court will hear the independence supporters' petition for a hearing by the Court of Final Appeal.