Calls for Hong Kong independence break the law, says legal chief of Beijing liaison office
Wang Zhenmin, a member of the Basic Law Committee, adds new dimension to condemnation of breakaway talk among young activists
If you talk about independence for Hong Kong at the dinner table, it shouldn’t be a problem, but if you do it in a big public forum as a call to action you’ll be breaking the law.
That was the interpretation of the new legal chief of Beijing’s liaison office on Friday as he accused independence advocates of breaching local criminal laws and set limits on freedom of expression that has so far protected the fledgling political discourse.
Wang Zhenmin, also a member of the Basic Law Committee, said those floating the idea of independence were not only in breach of the city’s mini-constitution, but also the Crimes Ordinance and Societies Ordinance.
No Hong Kong official has yet made a similar claim publicly.
Wang said freedom of speech was “not unlimited”. “Looking ahead, hundreds of or 1,000 years from now, Hong Kong will still be a part of China. The plot [of independence] will never bear fruit,” he said
By linking pro-independence speeches with criminality, Wang added a new dimension to condemnation of the growing pro-independence talk, especially among political young people.