CY Leung warns independence talk by some will cost all Hongkongers dearly
Chief executive claims ‘small group of people’ could cause seven million people to feel negative political and economic impact
Hong Kong’s leader has warned that a minority of people advocating independence will cost the city Beijing’s support and everyone will end up facing the political and economic consequences.
Before heading into his weekly cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said talks of independence would also have an impact on investment in the city and dissuade mainland tourists from visiting.
“Seven million people in Hong Kong would have to pay for the cost of these political and economic consequences, which are caused by a small group of people,” Leung said.
The chief executive took it up a notch days after Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung said the government was studying whether pro-independence advocates had broken any laws by setting up a new political party.
Leung sounded a hard-line note, saying: “No central government [in the world] would support a city that calls for independence.
