Under heavy skies, the minibus carrying Hong Kong politician Emily Lau rattles along a winding mountain road to Stanley Prison for a visit she finds all too familiar.

Lau is the former chair of the Democratic Party, once the city's stalwart opposition force but now seatless and preparing to dissolve as some of its veterans languish in jail.

The party and its campaign for freer elections have withered under Beijing's years-long national security crackdown.

After 2019 protests paralysed the financial hub, Beijing moved to further restrict elections and imprison democracy campaigners.

Lau listed off five party comrades behind bars, including her predecessor Albert Ho, who could be jailed for life on national security charges.

Ho is "very, very patriotic", she said ahead of her visit to Stanley Pirson. "Look at his fate".

The remaining members of the city's main democracy party will meet on Sunday to discuss and possibly vote on shutting down, following procedures that began in February.

At the time, party chair Lo Kin-hei cited the "political environment", but refused to say if there had been pressure from Beijing to dissolve.

Hong Kong's Democratic Party was founded in 1994, three years before........

© International Business Times