My Take | Legco candidate Ken Chow needs help – in more ways than one
Sensational allegations of a ‘powerful force’ urging him to quit race require a full investigation by the authorities ... and perhaps other professionals
The Electoral Affairs Commission and the Independent Commission Against Corruption are jumping into the case of Ken Chow Wing-Kan. That’s all very well. I hope they get to the bottom of Chow’s allegations, which if proven true, pose a direct threat to our electoral system.
But, to paraphrase an old saying, extraordinary allegations require extraordinary proof. So far, the Liberal Party’s candidate for New Territories West in Sunday’s Legislative Council elections has offered little to substantiate his sensational claims. Instead, he has fled to Britain. Unfortunately, in the paranoid and fact-free politics of Hong Kong today, his allegations have taken on a life of their own.
In a dramatic appearance, Chow – dressed all in black – announced at an election debate forum on television last week that he was quitting the race because of threats not only against him but those close to him who might be caught in “higher-level troubles and pay a heavy price”.
He has provided various media outlets with a recording in which the assistant of an election rival apparently threatened to bring dozens of men to “clash” with him.
That could be a criminal threat, but it would fall well within local jurisdiction. Later, however, Chow offered a different story, saying the unnamed source of the threats was outside Hong Kong jurisdiction and that it was more powerful than the triads or the central government’s liaison office in Hong Kong.