Hong Kong lawmakers from all sides urge home affairs chief to explain missing word ‘national’
Lau Kong-wah dodges leaflet controversy for a third day amid fears of censorship
Lawmakers from across the political spectrum urged Secretary for Home Affairs Lau Kong-wah to give a detailed explanation of the government’s controversial decision to prohibit a local artiste from publishing the full name of her Taiwanese alma mater in a drama programme leaflet.
Lau continued for the third day in a row to evade clarifying why the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) had problems with printing the word “national”, in Taipei National University of the Arts, in the artiste’s biography.
At a panel meeting on home affairs on Thursday morning, Lau told lawmakers after being peppered with questions that he understood their concerns, without elaborating.
READ MORE: When it comes to Taiwan affairs, leave it to Beijing to deal with the word ‘national’
“I am currently looking at the relevant information and ways to handle the issue,” he said, while adding that he would return to the legislature to answer questions at a later date.
As Lau was leaving the meeting, he was swarmed by reporters but did not answer their questions.
The incident revolves around a programme leaflet for the drama production Three Novels: The Third Lie, staged at Tsuen Wan Town Hall by local drama group the Nonsensemakers.
On Monday, the group said LCSD staff verbally requested that the word “national”, both in Chinese and English, be removed from executive producer Suie Lo Shuk-yin’s biography, in which she mentioned her alma mater, Taipei National University of the Arts.
After the scandal broke, Lau gave a two-minute briefing to the press on Tuesday without taking any questions. His lack of response prompted criticism from lawmakers on both sides of the political divide.
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The Civic Party’s Dr Kenneth Chan Ka-lok called Lau’s explanation “unacceptable”.
“Such political censorship should not happen in Hong Kong, a free society. It’s despicable” Chan said, as he called on Lau to apologise and promise to not make the same mistake again.
A number of pro-establishment lawmakers also urged the government to clarify its position to allay the public’s concerns, though they stopped short of calling the move political censorship.
Cultural and sports lawmaker Ma Fung-kwok said he had written a letter to the secretary and the LCSD head asking for more details.
“The incident has created some concerns. I don’t think it will be conducive to cultural exchange between Hong Kong and Taiwan,” he said.
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While the Thursday meeting was focused on youth sports development, many lawmakers took the opportunity to grill Lau on the issue.
“Many coaches and teachers are needed to help develop sports for young people and some will inevitably come from Taiwan,” education lawmaker Ip Kin-yuen said. “If they participate in competitions or activities by the LCSD, would you also ask them to remove the word ‘national’ from their biography in the programme notes?”
